Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Pool Party

My mom's friend C always hires a lifeguard when she has pool parties at her house. She has a dark bottom pool with little corners where you can lose sight of a kid really easily. She was also at a party once where a little brother and sister nearly drowned in the jacuzzi because the littler one got stuck in the middle and panicked, pushing the sibling down under the water in an attempt to make it to the surface. C was the only one watching, though there were multiple adults standing less than 5 feet away, completely oblivious. I've always understood why she hires a lifeguard...but after this weekend, it's even more clear to me. (note, this did NOT happen at C's house...there was no lifeguard)

My littlest brother (Munchkin) had his last ball game of the season, I was so excited to make it home for this game. They won 11-8, it was a pretty great game. They had the team party afterwards at a teammate's house. It was a pool party. The kids were all splashing around in the pool having a great old time. I was hanging around the edge, snapping tons of pictures. The kids were having a great time letting me take pictures as they were midair jumping off the diving board.

The host's family has a LOT of kids. (like, 7) One of the youngest boys, let's call him Ben, is a recent swimmer and probably shouldn't have been in the big pool with this many kids around. My brothers and a couple of the other kids had been helping Ben out in the big pool. A lot of the kids had gone into the jacuzzi and Munchkin was helping Ben after he'd gone down the slide. It took me a minute to catch on, but as I watched Ben was pushing my brother down trying to keep above the surface. Munchkin was coming up for air every little bit, but I did not like what I was seeing, he was staying under water far too long, and Ben seemed to be panicking. I set down the camera I was holding and started slipping off my shoes, calling for my older little brother (The Adventurer) at the same time. I got his attention about a second before I was going to jump into the pool. He dove over from the jacuzzi and pulled the Ben off of our little brother and got him to the side of the pool where I was. The Adventurer is SO tall he got there almost instantly...maybe half a second. He's also a ridiculously strong swimmer. It's great. He saved me from going in the pool fully clothed (not that I would have minded...my brother is the most important, obviously). Incidentally, I later realized that I would have been buying a new phone, because though I'd dropped the camera, I forgot my phone was still in my pocket until later. But cell phones are replaceable. Little brothers are not.

Anyways, all's well that ends well, but my adrenaline was definitely pumping. Munchkin was fine, I'm not even sure he realized he was in trouble. He's convinced that he and the Adventurer both saved Ben. Which, I suppose is true. So please, with all the summer water fun that's going on right now, PLEASE keep a close eye on your children, even if they know how to swim. Munchkin knows how to swim, he's a pretty good swimmer, but he still needed help. So please please please keep an extra close eye on any kids in the water.


24 comments:

Anonymous said...

And THIS is why I'm such a worry-wart watching little kids in the pool. It makes no difference that they are not mine, I still I am a nervous nelly! Just wait until Hunter is big enough to go in the pool...I'll be a wreck, and won't be able to take my eyes off of him! A drowning can happen in an instant! (I almost drowned as a child, in a pool FULL of people, and no one noticed at first. Scary!)

Jaina said...

April-Me too, me too. (to the worry-wart part) Honestly it's half the reason I was hanging by the pool taking pictures...I wanted to keep an eye on things, especially with the little ones in the big pool. My parents are really strict on watching kids in the pool as well, I just happened to be closest and see it first. My mom started Mommy and Me swim lessons with the boys as soon as possible...at the youngest age just teaching them how to turn around and kick to the wall if they ever fell into a pool.

EatPlayLove said...

Wow! Scary! I put up a small pool in our backyard and now I have the fear of water in me. I don't let my girls outback with out an adult. Which left me thinking, who's brilliant idea was this pool?!

EatPlayLove said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I used to babysit for a family who had (prior to me knowing them) had one of their children drown to death at a pool party. You could tell it totally effected every aspect of their life. I cannot imagine the guilt that would be associated with that. I totally agree with hiring a lifegaurd!

Jaina said...

Denise-It was, but mostly afterwards when I had a moment for the adrenaline to ebb and for me to think about what might have happened. Pools are great, but they definitely need supervision.

Jaina said...

Yaya-Oh my gosh that is so sad. :( It seems so preventable...I will definitely be hiring lifeguards for parties in the future when I have kids and if I have a pool. Better to have someone hired to watch them than a bunch of adults assuming someone else is keeping an eye on things.

Scarlet O'Kara said...

This is a great post and so very true. I watch my girls (as well as all the other kids) whenever they are swimming. My worst fear is for something to happen to one of them...

So very thankful that your little brother is fine...and what a caring big sister to be there to help with photos as well as keeping everyone safe.

Petunia said...

I do not understand people that have a big pool party with many kids without proper supervision. I have heard stories like this before. Thank GOODNESS you were there watching!!
We never have more than 6-8 kids at a party and hubby and I watch them continuously while they are in the pool. A lifeguard is a great idea!

scrappysue said...

wow - that happens ALL too often. yay for the adventurer! glad everyone's ok

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

Holy cow! That is dang scary!! Glad that they were rescued and all is well.

Jaina said...

Scarlet-It definitely is scary. Thank you :) I haven't had time to process them, but I think I got a lot of great pictures of the team :)

Petunia-Most definitely. I think I'm going to copy the lifeguard idea if I ever have a pool and parties in the future.

Sue-Seriously, it's sad. The Adventurer was great, he's such an awesome kid. Munchkin is great too...I think he probably would have made it to the side, but I'm an overprotective big sister and all I saw was him getting pushed underwater too long and too much. Better safe than sorry, right?

Carrie-Me too. I didn't realize how scary it was until after though. During I had a very clear head...it was kinda cool, come to think about it.

Gigi Ann said...

I am so glad everyone came out safe and sound.

I use to take my grandsons to a park to swim, (not a pool) but a lake. I told the life guard privately, to tell the boys they could only go out to a certain point and no farther and he would. The reason I had him tell them is I knew they would listen to him and they always did. I could read my book, but I still kept an eye on them anyway. Like April, I am a worry-wart when it comes to water and swimming.

I got goosebumps as I was reading your post today. LOL....

Jaina said...

Gramma Ann-Me too. Talking to the lifeguard like that seems like a great idea.

Ryanne said...

Wow, that sounds like you really got a scare. I love the pool and swimming, but I try to make sure there is a life guard on duty when I take family to a pool and if there isn't I hang around Javin like I am glued to him, and Orissa just acts glued to me. That is a great reminder for all of us. So glad you were there and so attentive.

Jaina said...

Ryanne-Yeah, but at least the scare part didn't set in until afterwards. I'm just glad everything went okay.

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

A-men to THAT. I've heard countless horror pool stories which might just have made me a pool-a-phobe!

Tabitha Blue said...

OMG, this is crazy, and happens way to often!! I'm so glad that they were both ok, and nothing worse happened. And a good lesson for all of us. Have a safe summer!!

:)
~Tabitha

Jaina said...

MamaGeek-I hope you let your little ones in the water...just well supervised ;)

Tabitha-Absolutely. Thank you :) I hope your summer is fabulous as well!

Heather said...

This terrifies me. None of my girls know how to swim (we don't have many pools in Colorado) and we're about to move to Phoenix!!! They'll be in swimming lessons immediately.

Jaina said...

Heather-Swim lessons is the perfect thing. Don't worry, they'll learn fast. And they'll have a wonderful mother to keep an eye on them ;)

Trooper Thorn said...

Wait until you have kids and going to a pool isn't so much about having fun and relaxing, but counting. One, two, three. One, two, three. On, two... where's three? Jesus, where's three? Oh, okay, three. Whew. One, two, three. One, two. three...

Jaina said...

Trooper-Haha, oh dear, I can only wait. I've done the counting thing before with cousins and such, but I don't think I've ever done it in the water.

Kelly Deneen Raymond said...

That is totally scary! I'm glad things ended up okay!!!