A harried-looking mother of three I recognized from school sat down next to me on the pool deck. She explained that things were a bit crazy this morning because each of her kids had a different start time for their swimming lessons, which meant she was stuck at the pool for over two hours, but at least she thought to bring her laptop on the off chance she could get some work done.

Naturally, as soon as the 10-year-old’s lesson began, Mom noticed he was the only one in his class without goggles. So she rounded up her 14- and 7-year-olds, loaded them back into the van and high-tailed it home to retrieve the missing goggles. She made it back 15 minutes before the end of the lesson, which is when she saw me.

She paused in her retelling of this story to look more closely at her 14-year-old son.

MOM: Those aren’t swim shorts.
SON: (looking down) Aren’t they?
MOM: No, they are not.
SON: (shrugging) Does it matter?
MOM: (rolling her eyes) Whatever. But those are going to fade.
SON: They’re already faded.
MOM: No, I mean the black part is going to fade.
SON: (sounding irritated) They’re already faded!
MOM: (turning away) Don’t talk to me.

At that exact moment, something sailed through the air and landed with a clunk at her feet. The 10-year-old had decided he didn’t want his goggles.

It’s nice to know it’s not just us.