In the spirit of “don’t do for your kids what they can do for themselves,” I decided to let the boys use the men’s change room at the pool all by themselves. They have swimming lessons every day for the next two weeks, so it seemed like a good opportunity to practise keeping track of their stuff. And boy, do they need practice. Here’s a rundown on how the post-swimming change went:

10:33 – Both boys enter the change room.

10:45 – Justin comes out wearing his brother’s shorts. Backwards. He is also barefoot. I am hopeful when I see he has his bag, though I quickly discover it contains nothing but his goggles. I point all this out to him. He rolls his eyes, says “dang it” disgustedly, and disappears back into the change room.

10:50 – Justin comes out wearing his own clothes and sandals but carrying Brayden’s shorts, making me wonder what exactly Brayden currently has on. Justin hands me his towel, but his swim shorts are still missing. Back to the change room.

10:53 – A man coming out of the change room notices me calling to the boys from the hallway. He smiles, shakes his head, and says, “A lot of talking going on in there.” At least they aren’t doing Pokemon battles with their towels. Yet.

10:55 – Justin comes out with everything he’s supposed to have. Still no sign of Brayden. I send Justin back in to tell his brother to get moving.

10:58 – Both boys appear with all the items they started with. Brayden reports that he had six showers to warm up since I wouldn’t let him use the hot tub after the lesson. We agree that he can use the hot tub tomorrow if he will take less time in the change room.

Hallelujah.