Last summer when we were house hunting, we looked at several homes with pools. As a child SOB had a big in-ground pool and thus was very interested in having one again as an adult. (Never mind the fact that he very nearly drowned once as a child, as in unconscious and needing to be revived very nearly drowned.) However, most of the homes with pools were vetoed almost instantly by yours truly. My thalassophobia extends a bit into generalized aquaphobia, not for me but for my children, (and if we're being honest here all of the children in the world). I wouldn't even consider a house with a pool if there was any continuity at all between the house and the pool. Door from the house to the pool area? VETO! Regular old non-child-proofed gate to the pool area? VETO! Only available yard playing area also inside pool area? VETO! Basically, I would only accept a house with a pool if the pool in question was separate from he house entirely, locked up like Fort Knox, and separated from the rest of a nice, usable yard.
Guess what? SOB managed to find a house that was pretty darn perfect for our family, plus it had a pool that met all of my requirements for safety, therefore making me the proud owner a pool. I haven't had too many issues with it so far. Since we moved into the house back in the fall, the pool was only opened for a few weeks and we only went it in once. Sam went in twice. Then we had the cover put on and I haven't thought about it much since then.
Until last week, when we made the appointment to have it opened up. In the next few days, the cover is going to come off and the backyard will be converted into a super fun family death trap! I know that my anxiety is a bit out of hand, however it's not completely unfounded. We recently added extra combination locks to the child safety locks on the fence, but I'm still being scared awake by nightmares of kids/people drowning in our pool. Plus I've already witnessed my oldest and another kid his age almost successfully scale the fence to retrieve a ball, so I now I have that on my brain.
Even just writing this is making me feel a little bit nauseous.
So any pool owners out there care to share some coping mechanisms with me? If not, I might just be tempted fill it in and make a basketball court.
1 comment:
Come live in Australia, home of the 'everyone has a pool' culture. With this pleasure comes responsibility. The laws regarding pool safety here are full on.
Fencing: yes...mandatory,including style...non scaleable
Gates: specially designed with a locking mechanism up high which I frequently cannot reach; if there's a chance the kids can climb up onto a ledge, your fence has to be higher. If your doors open onto a pool area, they must be childproof locked...etc etc etc. In NSW you even have to display resuscitation charts poolside to comply with council regs. I gotta say, it may seem overkill, but when you look at the stats on child deaths from pool drownings in Aus....well let's just say water deserves respect.The best thing you can do of course is teach your children to swim. In Aus we have mandatory swimming lessons at school (although I am one example of a hopeless case who had to be enrolled in private 1:1 lessons)and the first thing they teach you is how to get out of the pool! Pools can be an incredible blessing but you are right. Treat them with respect. Never let down your guard. Learn to swim.
Enjoy.
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