Family Pool Pass

I got a summer pass to the pool for the kids. We bought it the first day and after some quick math I determined that I would have to bring them at least 16 times to make the pass pay for itself. We've been going nearly every day with a few exceptions. The pool opens at 1 pm so I told the kids that they needed to finish their lessons before they were allowed to go to the pool. That has been very motivational for everybody! I've bought our History and Language curriculum for next year and we will continue with the math program I had. Elle gets really indignant that her lessons are so short and wants to do more. Hunter loves being able to figure words out in books and gets books from the library and will just pour over them trying to decipher the harder words. So mornings are pretty well laid out with lessons and afternoons are reserved for the pool. The Kids K group comes at about 2:30 and fills the pool up, but we leave at about 3 pm anyway so that I can have enough time to put dinner on at and early hour.

The first three days at the pool one of the lifeguards jumped in to pull on of my kids out. The first day was Hunter. I didn't see what happened, but he got away from the edge and he and Ethan were playing rough and he started to struggle.

The second day Ethan went down the slide and the lifeguard at the top told him to lie down. That made him go super fast and when he got to the bottom he got turned around and started swimming the wrong direction, so they jumped in. He was embarrassed and didn't want to go down the slide again. I insisted that he get over it and do it again. The third day Hunter went down the slide for the fourth time, but this last time the lifeguard at the top told him to take his goggles off. I got a picture of him with him coming down with them in his hand. When he got to the bottom he wasn't swimming as fast as they would have liked because the goggles were in his hand so she blew the whistle and jumped in. BLAH! They are trigger happy is what it is! ....mumble...but better safe than sorry, right?

Hunter and Ethan both became disgusted with the slide and their rules so they don't go down now.

This is after Hunter spent the first couple days practicing so he could pass the swim test. He had to swim from one end of the pool to the other without grabbing the rope. He did it! It wasn't pretty, but he did it. The lifeguard watching him verified that he passed the test but still said he couldn't go. I put my foot down. I told the lifeguard that they needed to make it a timed test or a longer test, but don't set a standard and then once a kid passes THEIR requirements tell them they can't go after all. What's the point of having the goal then? I argued with him and then explained the case to the Senior guard on duty. He agreed to let Hunter go down and when he got to the bottom and over to the side without any problems we were good. It wasn't until they changed the rules again and said no goggles that the boys lost interest.