A Mother's View from the Poolby Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger 22 Aug 2008 03:47 AM When you take your young child to a public pool do you: A.) Kick back in a chair and dig into a pile of PEOPLE magazines B.) Watch your child like a hawk especially since he doesn't know how to swim C.) Turn over babysitting duties to older siblings so you can return calls on your cellphone? If you frequent community pools in my city you would find that the majority of parents would choose A or C (if they were answering honestly). For the past 12 weeks my 4-year-old daughter and I have made near daily trips to our local pool. We started off with swim lessons and then returned for play dates and other casual trips to put her swim skills to the test. It's a lovely pool complete with fountains, splash pads, a water slide, diving boards and large mushrooms that spew water from their caps. What it lacks is a designated "kiddie area," instead the aquatic center features a zero depth pool, meaning it begins at zero inches then slowly tapers to a two foot depth and beyond. The design is ideal for young children, but in my opinion, it also lulls some parents into complacency and can lead to frightening moments. I know this because I have witnessed at least a half dozen of them unfold before my very eyes in the last three months. In all but one case the parents of the children being plucked from the deep end by lifeguards were either reading or talking on their cellphones while their kids were desperately trying to stay afloat. Look, I'm not here to judge. Maybe the parents of the submerged children thought their kids were better swimmers (though, given that all of them were under 3 years old--a point duly noted by one of the lifeguards we befriended--that might be a stretch). Or, perhaps said parents thought their respected phone calls were only going to last a few seconds rather than a few minutes. Or, maybe the parents of these now traumatized children simply thought they could read their magazines with one eye and keep the other one on their child. Who knows? Regardless of the reason, I can speak for all the mothers that I visit the pool with in saying that we've all been slightly traumatized this summer having to watch children being fished out of the water by lifeguards or other swimmers in the area. Add to that having to view these tiny tots being struck on their backs to elicit signs of life and you'd think the scene would be seared in the minds of every parent at the pool. Sadly, though that has not been the case. As I mentioned earlier, my daughter has taken swim lessons. However, for some reason she still sinks like rock while attempting to dog paddle. Knowing this I don't dare let her get near the water alone no matter how many other moms are sitting on the side of the pool monitoring their children. Unfortunately, I've noticed that the "mom wall" (as I call it) is often taken advantage of by other parents who don't particularly like the water (that's my assumption anyway given that they don't budge from their chairs on the pool deck no matter how loudly their child screams for them to join them in the water). Case in point: Two weeks ago a little boy (I later found out he was not even two years old) spent more than 45 minutes swimming (translation: hanging on to my arm) as I stood in the water catching my daughter as she jumped off the side of the pool. On numerous occasions I scanned the crowd trying to see if a mom might be frantically looking for a lost child. I then asked the boy where his parents were. He didn't say much (and I can't blame him since at 20 months his vocabulary is limited to say the least) so I let him hang out with us until my daughter informed me that she had to go potty. On the way to the bathroom, the boy still in tow, we finally found his mom. She had her head buried in a paperback book and claimed that she didn't realize her son had wandered into the pool. (Did I mention the kid was with us for 45 minutes?) She thanked me for returning him and went back to reading. Long story short: When my daughter and I returned from the restroom we saw the boy's mom still engrossed in her book. Her son was back in the pool... hanging on to another mom from the "wall." What's your routine when you visit a public pool with a child who can't swim? And do you notice moms like the one I encountered... or do you these types of parents only frequent our pool? Related Articles: Learn more about Michele Cheplic  Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. Relevantparenting tags User Comments Samual (11722) 22 Aug 2008 08:23 AMIn pools here children or those who cannot swim aren't allowed to be in a pool on their own, if the life guard sees a child that is not around a parent they will make the child get out of the pool until they can establish who they are with. When we are at the pool, we spent most of time throwing the kids in.  Beth McHugh (13211) 22 Aug 2008 06:26 PMI'm amazed at how complacent some parents are with their children around water. My MIL is a case in point. She would take six children under the age of 9 (one a toddler) to the beach and allow them to play on a rock platform with waves breaking regularly while she read a novel a hundred metres away.  Michele Cheplic |
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