To Swim or Not to Swim

[crek31]

That is the question. My five year olds go to a private swim instructor who teaches in her own backyard IG unenclosed, pool. I have spoken with her enough to know she knows very little about pools except how to teach kids to swim (she's good at that). I now she has a pool store help her with her equip and water, but I don't know any other details except she bought this house because of the pool and her desire to start this swim lesson business.

Just got a text that says: "Wanting to inform you that the pool is very cloudy today due to a filter pressure issue. The water chemicals are safe to be in so classes are still on but i wanted to inform you as I want you to be assured of my level of professionalism and safety of your children."

I'm not comfortable questioning her on what the details are (and she wouldn't have any test results anyway, I'm sure). I could ask her what chemicals she is refering to, but I think it would be uncomfortable. I'm leaning toward telling her we won't be coming today (in truth we are exhausted anyway since we came back from vacation late last night) - but if anyone thinks I'm making too much of it and should just let the kids go, please chime in. (And "No," I don't have the guts to take my own test kit over to check out just how bad (or not bad) it is).

I sure am anxious to get our own pool up so I know what they are swimming in!

 

[teapot]

These are your children, develop the guts, it is possible to do this in a non confrontational way, it doesn't have to be an argument and if I were the swimming instructor and someone could have helped at least by telling me what the problem was so I didn't have to txt my customers I would be delighted.

 

[woodyp]

Excellent teaching opportunity...........and it could be cloudy for any number of reasons.

 

[loop_pea]

How cloudy? Water clarity is the first line on my pool record sheet before any chemical tests.

The risk is that a child in trouble might not be visible under the water. Even where the swim teacher only has one child to watch, it could delay a rescue if something happened.

For this reason, I personally would not be comfortable putting my children in a "very cloudy" pool.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I'd grab my test kit and go aver there and say, Hey let me see if there's anything I can do to help. She might really appreciate someone knowledgable helping out a little. Especialy if it's not going to cost her anything. You could run the tests and then go aver the equipment and let her know what you think.

 

[zea3]

I agree. I think if you contact her with an "I'm here to help" attitude and not "Oh my gosh, are you insane!" she may be grateful for your assistance. Just remember, to the uninitiated the key words are "liquid chlorine" not "bleach"!

 

[Patrick_B]

I hope you make the offer to help, and if you do...she might want to return the favor with some swim lessons. Worth a shot regardless and might be fun trying to help her.

 

[duraleigh]

I am just a little more cynical...."No good deed goes unpunished"

I wouldn't swim but perhaps you can bring up, in a roundabout way, your knowledge of pool water chemistry and gauge her reaction. I think she will be VERY defensive if you made a direct offer to help her.

 

[crek31]

Well, I texted back that the kids had to miss tonight due to getting in too late last night from vacation (only a half truth). I had previously mentioned TFP and she even asked for the name a week after I first mentioned it, but she never said anything else so i assume she has not spent any time on it yet.

When I texted kids had to miss, I also said I'd be happy to come test the water for her and see what TFP says to do. No response. She did seem interested in learning more about her pool, saying several times that "no one should know more about your pool than you." I think she'll go BBB eventually, but not just yet. And about all I can do is give guidance to the site and very basic stuff -- I am of no use on equipment or complex water stuff -- so I definitely need to tread lightly on the topic. I'll take my test kit next time though to see if she wants me to stay after class and show her how easy it is to find the correct values.

 

[applgrl]

My kids took lessons for about 5 years with all the neighbourhood buddies in a friend's pool. During those years, we had bouts with two skin infections, impetigo and molluscum contagiosum. (After comparing notes with the Mommy Collective we're relatively sure our kids got molluscum from the hot tub.) I knew that our host family was having trouble with their SWG at the time, and definitely didn't have the chemicals under control, but since all the kids were together most of the time anyway, we took our chances. We also knew all the parents and kids quite well.

That said, the skin infections were a colossal nuisance at the time. With the impetigo we were evacuated from our home due to a forest fire, so I had to stay with family while my kids were contagious. With the molluscum, some of the kids battled the rash for six months! (my own saw a dermatologist who quickly cleared it up.)

Teaching swim lessons is a huge responsibility. Yes, kids are resilient and the likelihood of them contracting something dreadful is small. Looking back I think that the onus is on the host family and teacher to make sure they can operate their pool safely before they book the first lesson. If they don't at least check for FC before each lesson, well they should!

I guess the question for your family is, do you feel lucky? .......and do you have time/energy to tend ailing kids......??