About six months ago my husband and I decided it was time to add a pool to our backyard. We live in Arizona so outside activities are limited during the summer when it’s 115 degrees in the shade! Our twins are just shy of four years old so they are not quite ready for museums (we tried this recently and all we did was run up and down the stairs) and there is only so much fun to be had at the mall. As much as I wanted a pool, I was nervous about having one in my backyard with young kids.
I recently read an article titled: Is There A Monster in Your Backyard? in a local publication. The title caught my attention because the photo was of a beautiful pool. My heart started beating fast as I knew there was no turning back; we had a great big hole in our backyard.
For the past two years we have taken our girls to swimming lessons. These lessons have been fun and have helped our girls gain confidence about being in the water, but I wanted something more aggressive. I wanted my daughters to learn how to swim and more importantly how to swim and climb to safety if they were to fall in by accident (we do have a fence around the pool).
I hired the swim instructor from the article because he promised me my girls would learn how to swim and respect the pool. The lessons last for five consecutive days. Day one they learned how to swim to the steps and pull themselves out of the pool, how to turn around after jumping off the edge of the pool and grab the side of the pool and use the “monkey” walk to walk around the pool to the steps, and many, many other skills.
As I’ve watched my girls these past few days I’m thankful that I found their instructor, Splash. I know that the lessons my daughters are learning this week may one day save their lives. Whether you have a Monster in your backyard or you visit a community pool during the summer, I encourage you to sign your child up for swim lessons. If nothing else, you’ll all enjoy the pool a whole lot more when you know what your children are and are not capable of doing in the water. I know my eyes will be on my girls every minute the are near the pool, but now that I know the skills they’ve learned I’ll be more able to enjoy our time in the pool together.
by Kelly Damron
Photo graciously provided by Grumpy Chris, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
2 responses so far ↓
Nathan // Jul 7, 2008 at 12:18 am
I couldn’t agree more. My oldest son is almost 4 and has already had swimming lessons that I feel have taught him vital pool survival skills. I think it is the most important thing to teach your kids.
Stephanie - Green SAHM // Jul 7, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Such a good point. My inlaws have a pool and I make sure both my kids can swim. Even if a family member doesn’t have one, you have to think about pools at friends’ houses and so forth.
And be aware that even kids who can swim can panic if they fall in. I won’t leave my kids alone by a pool.
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