No time to go to the pool?
Summer’s here and hot weather means time to swim.
Or does it?
At The Juggle, Katherine Meyer writes about two career families not having time to go to the pool anymore. and pool memberships are down.
It got my attention because we dropped our pool membership this year.
Even though my husband is a teacher and is at home during the summer and could go any day of the week, we rarely had time to go. I thought it was just us, though.
I have to admit that after a long week at work, I didn’t always relish the idea of packing up and spending a good chunk of my weekend days away from home, but I did it because we were paying for it, though I usually had fun when I got there.
However, it’s not really because we work that we didn’t have time to spend at the pool, it’s that the kids are getting older and they want to do other things. They also swim at camp and on vacation and didn’t often want to go swimming at the club. It seemed a little odd that we basically ended up telling them, “You’re going to the pool, you’ll have fun and that’s that” so, we dropped the membership.
I feel relieved and guilty at the same time.
I’m glad I don’t have to make the choice about going to the pool on the weekends vs. getting my usual chores done around the house with my limited time, as I frequently felt dissatisfied with both options.
I’m happy that we don’t have the expense anymore, but I feel a little guilty that my youngest child isn’t getting to go since he still loves to swim.
We have a play pool in the back yard that he can swim in, but it’s not the same. He’s a good swimmer, but I can tell he doesn’t have the same skills as the older ones did at that age.
I have fond memories of hanging out at the pool for hours on end during the summer and I wanted that for my kids, but they have so much more available to them now and I guess we can always rejoin if we miss it.
Tags: no time to swim, swimming pool memberships, The-JuggleRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Busy Parenting, Time off
3 opinions for No time to go to the pool?
Bluegrass Mama
Jul 1, 2008 at 6:54 pm
We had thought of dropping our pool membership this year since we hardly used it last summer, but our daughter insisted that she’d go a lot this year. It opened Memorial Day. I think she’s been once, and the husband and I have been once (not that the same time, of course, as that would be Just Too Embarrassing). Next year maybe we’ll spend that money on something we’ll actually use.
carolyn
Jul 2, 2008 at 5:51 am
My kids are 12 (almost 13) and 15. This may be our last year for the pool membership. The 15 year old is working part time this summer and wants to hang out with her friends, most of whom don’t belong to our pool. And the 12 year old doesn;t want to go to the pool with his mom, so he either takes a friend along or hopes someone is there to play with, although he calls it “hang out” with. It’s complicated, and I feel like this is our last year. I will miss it in some respects, but I noticed that we were the oldest (my kids, not me:)) people there when we went the last time.
JayMonster
Jul 2, 2008 at 9:40 am
I bought a new above ground pool for our yard last year, and I am starting to regret that as well. My daughter swims 3-4 days a week at camp. I spend my free time cleaning it. And if I got in twice last year that is a lot. This year, zero time in the pool so far (for me), and minimal for the kid. So why exactly did I spend all this money?
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