Summer is officially here at long last! It is the brightest and supposedly happiest season of the year. However, as we get ready for all those trips to the beach, the water parks, pool parties or fire up the grill for some delicious Barbeque, we need not throw caution to the wind.
I remember one fateful summer when a family friend had invited us to a birthday party of their daughter who had turned five. It was a pool party. I had a very scary experience. The party was going on smoothly and all till it wasn’t. The lively Nigerian music blasted through the speakers. People were swaying their hips to the rhythm of the music. Of course, there was Jollof rice (no Nigerian party is complete without this dish), grilled chicken, beef, fried plantain, salad, pounded yam and vegetables, and lots of drinks. It was a very merry atmosphere. A lot of goodies for the kids. As you would expect of a pool party, people were dressed in their swimming suits (including myself), especially the kids and their accompanying adults. However, there was no life guard and no adult was specifically designated to that role. There was a sign that stated ” Swim in the pool at your own risk”. That was a bit scary, but I deliberately became oblivious of what the sign said. I just said to myself “That sounds scary but we would be careful.”
Other kids were having fun swimming in the pool including the birthday celebrant and her friends. I got my serving of food, as well as that of my two toddlers. I managed to shove some food down my son’s throat( a picky eater by default), whose only focus was on the pool and nothing else. The boy has some sort of affinity for water. A tendency he had since he was very little. Little wonder why I registered him in a swimming class when he was two. His younger sister is the exact opposite. Perhaps as if the water would mess with her ‘divahood ‘ in some way. She obviously had no plans of going near the pool. So there I was, with a toddler who had no plans of getting anywhere near the pool of water and at the same time another who could not wait to get in! I was by myself at the party. I had no nanny at the time and their dad was not around. So I sat my daughter down on a chaise lounge and got into the pool with my son who was having the time of his life. Eventually when daughter saw how much fun her brother was having, she was able to set aside her aversion for water temporarily and asked to join in. She did, but I was not having fun. Having to watch two toddlers play in the pool like a hawk was not exciting for me because I just could not push aside all the horror stories I had heard about little kids and swimming pools. Then someone needed to go potty. I had to get them both out of the pool, wrapped a towel around each child and find the rest room. Chai, it’s not easy to be a mother-of-two !
I was changing my daughter’s nappy while I asked my son to wait. Nappy change was done in less than a minute and so was my son totally done with waiting. By the time I turned around , he was gone! In a jiffy, with my daughter in my left arm and wet diaper in my right hand I rushed out of the rest room and found my son in the pool already drifted to the deep end of the pool and struggling in the water, but unfortunately nobody even noticed. Fortunately for me, he had his life jacket on. That probably saved him. With immediate effect I dropped my daughter by the edge of the pool and ran into the pool with the wet diaper still in my hand as I rushed towards my son to grab him. He must have taken a few gulps of water. That was a scary life experience for me. What shocked me the most was the fact that, despite so many people being around the pool, no one saw a struggling little boy. I would never forget that day. So, when you think I am paranoid about swimming pools and little children, now you understand why.
Two valuable lessons I learnt that day.
First, If anybody would be going near any body of water, either the swimming pool or a beach, they must know how to swim. I learnt to swim during my housemanship year immediately after medical school. You have to enrol your little ones very early to learn to swim. There are some life-saving skills that are not negotiable. Swimming is one of them.
Second, Never leave your child unattended at any point in time near a pool. At all times there must be an adult who is fully oriented in time, place and person, watching your child. Imagine what could have happened if I had been distracted after leaving the rest room or did not rush out to grab him immediately. God forbid.
Your guess is as good as mine, that marked the end of the party for us, It was time to go HOME! Thank you very much. Unfortunately, we could not wait for the birthday cake.
However, an unforgettable and valuable life lesson was learnt.
In summary, here are quick tips as you spend time with your little ones around the pool this summer:
- Always, always ,always put a life jacket on your child. It is a life saver! You just read my story.
- If anyone needs to go near water, they need to learn at least the basics of swimming. Time to enroll those little ones in swimming classes. It is not too early! Neither is it too late.
- Ensure that there is an adult assigned specifically to watch your child. Never assume that someone else is doing so.
- Never leave your child unattended to near a pool. You must be able to account for that child at every minute. Anything can happen in one minute with little ones. While the goal is to have fun, at the same time there is need to be vigilant.
- On no account should a child run near a pool. Usually the floor is wet and slippery and any kind of fall would not be good.
- Ensure that the child does not wonder off to the deep end of the pool unsupervised.
- Do not forget to apply your sunscreen.
I wish you all a safe, fun-filled and memorable summer.
“Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds”. – Regina Brett