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 I have to go back to the very first day I found out I was pregnant so you can understand and perhaps even relate to how I came about understanding the very fine art of juggling children and surfing. The first day I found out I was pregnant was a Saturday. I was living in Sydney at the time and my partner and I had been trying to get pregnant for about 3 months. I thought we had missed out again that month and was anticipating my period when I thought, what the hell I’ll take the test. I don’t think anyone can ever forget that moment when you stare at the pregnancy test and it’s got 2 lines instead of one. A wave of feelings washed over me at that time, although I don’t remember thinking that I would miss surfing quite as much as I was about to find out.
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| Surfer Girls |
That day I was scheduled to meet my good friends down at Manly for our regular weekend surfing session. When I arrived we went on a scouting mission to find the best breaks. I remember looking at a fairly heavy Dee Why break and thinking not today. I can’t go out in that today, what about the baby? I convinced my friends that we would have much more fun in the friendlier and smaller Freshwater beach break, although I think they were wondering why. That day in the surf I let big waves go by and I avoided other surfers coming much too close with their boards, things had changed and I was about to find out how much in about 37 weeks.
The first few weeks after my son was born I didn’t notice. I was too busy being overwhelmed and trying to learn how to breast feed, change nappies and stay up all night. I’d say around the four week mark I started to think about it and on the fifth week I convinced my partner to take us to the beach, surfboard in tow. I do remember how uncomfortable it was to get back on the board, my body screamed out in protest. Paddling was hard work and after about 15 minutes I was ready to come back in, but it was a perfect day, the waves were fun and the water warm and clear. I needed more. That’s when all the trouble started.
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| Surfer Mom and Future Surfer |
Suddenly I found myself noticing the direction of the wind again, and that familiar itch started to creep up my spine. The itch that can only be satisfied by the water on your skin, the feel of your board under your body and the exhilaration of sliding down a perfect glassy blue wave. I started to check the internet to see what the swell was doing, and that is when the frustration started to build. Suddenly I had all this time to go surfing, I wasn’t working, but I couldn’t go. The surf was perfect and all my friends were telling me how good it was, and I stood there with this gorgeous baby in my arms trying to be happy for them. There had to be another way.
First I tried my mother’s group. They seemed to want to go to the park and put a rug down for the babies to crawl around and gurgle at the sun, the beach seemed so unfriendly to them. All that sand to get in your babies mouth, in their hair, in their ears. Then there was the sun, and the water. All seemingly bad baby combinations. Finally as the babies grew, I convinced them to meet at the beach on days that I knew the surf would be good. But then there was the odd issue of me wanting to leave my child with them while I surfed, the guilt nearly killed me, and there was the fact that I could scarcely leave him for longer than about 15 minutes. The other mothers tried to help me out as much as they could but I think they thought I was crazy!
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| Mom Surfing |
I realized then that what I needed was another mother just like me. Someone who wanted to surf everyday, who was happy to do whatever it took to make a surf happen. There was a woman I had seen in the surf often before I had my child. I knew she was pregnant and had just recently had a baby and we started to see each other at the beach. Each of us would have that yearning in our eyes. We stared out to sea with almost an aching longing written across our faces. We started to talk to each other and discussed the idea of watching each others children on the beach while the other surfed, it seemed the perfect solution.
At first it wasn’t easy. Both children had to get used to each other, and to the mother that would look after them. But eventually it happened, and not to say we don’t have an odd bad day here and there where one or other child is cranky and doesn’t want to let their mum go surfing, but we always support each other and do what it takes to make sure we both shake off the persistent demon we call surfing. If you see one of us in the pouring rain with 2 hyper active children in a car, and the other mum returning with a relieved look on her face you would know we have successfully mastered the fine art of juggling children and surfing. You can do it too! Start your own www.surfingmums.com group in your area and you will create a network of friends that will make sure you get in the surf.
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