Open Letter To Mom's At Our Pool

I wouldn't normally rant like this...but since what I witnessed at the pool this morning during Arabella's swim class has been bothering me since, this might help to get it off me chest! I do however want to preface this by saying that I am not trying to tell this parent how to handle their child, but rather I am speaking from experience - I was a life guard and swim instructor for many years.

Dear Mom at the Pool -

When your child is screaming and clutching onto you do you think you should just drop her in the pool for her swim lesson? As she is clawing into your leg, isn't she trying to tell you something? You child was mortified and scared to death to be in the pool. Didn't her screams for "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" for 20 straight minutes in between the scream get to you? You daughter was beet red and hyperventilating, yet you made the instructor take her? Do you not see that this will only make her more scared? It seemed that you were alright with this behavior...I was not. I was scared and concerned for your child as well as my own.

Did you think that by walking from one end of the pool to the other as the class was taking place would make her stop crying? It didn't. Did you think that sending Dad to get the stuffed animal would make her feel better? I didn't see any change in the crying. Did you think that allowing her to take the stuffed animal into the pool with her would help? Nope, it was just one more thing that the instructor had to pay attention to during the class. I could go on with the behavior that I witnessed, but is it important? Not really. What is important is your child was asking, no, begging for you to comfort her and to help her. But you ignored it.

By having a child that is out of control - screaming and thrashing about in the water - made it unsafe for my child and yours and the rest of the children in the class and pool. The instructors are there to teach our children how to swim, not try to calm them down for 20 minutes. I would imagine the screaming child is and was a distraction for the other life guards who were on duty watching over the pool. I know that when I was guarding, when I heard screaming and/or crying, my attention would automatically be focused on that rather than what was going on in the pool under my watch.

Please, don't force your child to take swim lessons. Next time stay with them at as they sit on the edge of the pool and watch the class. Let them ease into it. By forcing her, you could have made her forever scared of the water. I realize it is important for children to realize and face their fears - but what happened today tortured me as I watched. And you risked the safety of my daughter today. My daughter was also concerned for your child and her swim class today was not beneficial...that is one swim lesson that she won't get back. It was a missed opportunity for my child. Please don't be so inconsiderate.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Mom

PS - On another pool related topic...can you all please teach your kids to share and not be mean??? It breaks my heart when my sweet daughter ask "Can I please play with you?" only to get a nasty response back of "No!" Seriously, what happened to manners? All this behavior makes me want to join a different pool next summer...

Now, I feel better.

Swimming with Dad

Arabella and Jay had some fun in the pool the past few weekends. It has been warm here so it has been nice to be able to just take a short walk and then jump in the pool. Surprisingly, the few times in the evening that we have gone, it has been almost empty, which is a huge change from when we are at the pool in the morning for swim lessons! It is nice to have such a large pool all to ourselves! Arabella has been doing great in her swim lessons and can swim without her bubble on...it is usually only for a quick moment, but still she is making progress. She is also getting daring and will jump off the diving board all by herself! Way to go Arabella, keep up the great work!

Pool Time

Arabella has been anxiously awaiting the for the day we could go to the pool and today was the day! We played at the park for a while this morning and saw the older kids at diving practice and she wanted to go and dive too. She was not happy when we had to leave so she could go take a nap, but I promised her when she got up we would go to the pool. When she got up, she was excited to put on her new bathing suit and pick out her towel, she even carried it in her backpack all by herself. We are very lucky that the pool is within walking distance from out house, so we packed up the stroller and make the trip over. It was the perfect evening for swimming. She had a lot of fun in the baby pool which was perfect for her to play in and explore. I then took her into the second pool and we we splashed and swam around for a little while before her lips turned blue and her teeth started chattering. She had a lot of fun and I know we will be spending a lot of time at the pool this summer!