My new vocation

I have a new vocation in life. I have become a floatation device. We went to a nephew’s birthday celebration at a pool in Fremantle on Saturday afternoon. It was wonderful spending time in the water with all the cousins playing so well together. They have a marvellous set up at the centre with the kind of playground equipment you’d normally find in a park sat in the middle of a shallow pool.

I told one of my young nieces that I could help her in the slightly deeper water where there was a whirlpool and spa. She wasn’t at all convinced and I wasn’t going to force the issue.

A little later she noticed that all the other kids were over there and she wanted a piece of the action. I ended up with her hopping on my back for a few laps around the area. Well, I thought it’d be for a few laps. I ended up with a semi-permanent attachment.

After a while she decided she was game enough to try the slides so she’d climb to the top before hurling herself down the slide with me at the end of the slide ready to grab her. The first couple of times she came down the slide with a horrified look of terror in her face. After that it was all wonderful and she would have been happy to keep going all day.

When we finally left she thanked me for helping her in the pool. I told her that it she was welcome. After all, that’s what uncles are meant to do isn’t it?

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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