Growing up, my parents were not too strict. They never allowed my siblings and I to go out to play, but we had a little freedom. Sometimes, we went on outings, particularly when the church was involved. It was during these church outings that we got to do really cool stuff that children our age did. Although my parents were not too strict, they were over protective. From their point of view, it seemed like they loved us and they didn’t want us to hurt ourselves or make the wrong decisions. But what they didn’t know was that they did too much. They were so overprotective that we felt caged. My mom bought bicycles for me and my brother, but we were not allowed to ride them outside the compound. We were not allowed to do this because it was “dangerous” and we could get hurt.
While my mates went on excursions, my mom never allowed me. In my elementary school and high school, they went to beaches, and other nice places outside my states, but my mom never allowed these things. She would always say they were dangerous. Amongst the list of things my mom loathed, the one thing that topped the list was swimming. My mom hated that word alone, let alone the thought of her children actually doing it.
Because she works in a hospital, she has heard many stories of people, especially teenagers who drowned in a local river or swimming pool. Many times, when she got back from work, she would tell us how her patients went on an outing with friends and almost drowned. I remember hearing a story of a boy who was bullied by his friends. Apparently, he and his friends went to the swimming pool and his friend forced his head under the water till he drowned. Stories like this scared my mom and she decided that none of her children would ever step into a swimming pool. At least, not on her watch. And that is exactly what my brother did.
Whenever my mom was on duty, my brother would sneak out to swim. That fella learnt how to swim in a river. To make matters worse, it wasn’t even a clean river. Sometimes, it was brown, dirty and muddy. But my brother and his friends would swim there every day. Soon enough, he perfected his swimming skills. On the other hand, I never did that. I only started learning how to swim when I graduated from high school, and every time I went to the swimming pool, my mom knew. I don’t know how to swim well, but I know how not to drown. I hope that makes sense. To make it clearer, I don’t know how to do any strokes. But when I am in the swimming pool, I can play around and move around. Baby steps. The last time I did this was about 5 years ago.
Now that I've grown older, what stops me from swimming isn't my mom. I'm an adult. If I wanted to swim, I would. It's just not something I've thought of doing. Back then, my friends and I went to the swimming pool because it was a hangout spot. Ever since we stopped doing that, I haven't had the urge to. Maybe one of these days, when the opportunity comes, I will.
Thanks for reading!
The images used are mine.
Posted Using INLEO
Not drowning in water is the goal at the end of the day, whether you have the skills or not is just secondary. Just don’t die and you’d be okay.