One of the best campaigns for pool safety I ever heard was in Phoenix one summer quite a few years ago. It was called "Two Seconds is Too Long," and they named it that because time and time again, when firefighters would respond to a child drowning, what they would hear from the person watching the child was "I was just away for two seconds." It was heartbreaking in a city that sometimes lost a child a day in the summer.
So I completely applaud your proactive stance on this. And honestly, I believe that if the combination of talking, agreeing, enforcing and physical barriers can't be improved enough for your peace of mind, that perhaps you need to consider whether he should stay there during pool season for that one day each week. At least while he's this young.
May I ask why your in-laws were opposed to a lock high on the door? It seems like that's the best and easiest way to just plain prevent children being outside without adult supervision. I assume that they felt the pool gate would be unsightly (I disagree; we had a pool surrounded by an iron fence and it was still beautiful), but I'm not sure I understand what the objection would be to a safety lock.
One home we had was quite near a pond that we couldn't fence off (we were near a golf course). My nieces and nephews were very young at the time and I was worried, like you, that somehow they'd get out there -- all it takes is once -- and someone would fall in. We installed a small alarm high on that door that went off if it was opened without turning it off first. Basically it functioned as a second lock, because it required a tall person to turn it off before opening the door. I tell you what, the one time a kid actually did open that door, we were all down there lickety-split. It worked!
I hope you can find a solution to this that makes you confident to leave your son with his grandparents -- I'm sure they have a very special relationship.
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Alison,
One of the best campaigns for pool safety I ever heard was in Phoenix one summer quite a few years ago. It was called "Two Seconds is Too Long," and they named it that because time and time again, when firefighters would respond to a child drowning, what they would hear from the person watching the child was "I was just away for two seconds." It was heartbreaking in a city that sometimes lost a child a day in the summer.
So I completely applaud your proactive stance on this. And honestly, I believe that if the combination of talking, agreeing, enforcing and physical barriers can't be improved enough for your peace of mind, that perhaps you need to consider whether he should stay there during pool season for that one day each week. At least while he's this young.
May I ask why your in-laws were opposed to a lock high on the door? It seems like that's the best and easiest way to just plain prevent children being outside without adult supervision. I assume that they felt the pool gate would be unsightly (I disagree; we had a pool surrounded by an iron fence and it was still beautiful), but I'm not sure I understand what the objection would be to a safety lock.
One home we had was quite near a pond that we couldn't fence off (we were near a golf course). My nieces and nephews were very young at the time and I was worried, like you, that somehow they'd get out there -- all it takes is once -- and someone would fall in. We installed a small alarm high on that door that went off if it was opened without turning it off first. Basically it functioned as a second lock, because it required a tall person to turn it off before opening the door. I tell you what, the one time a kid actually did open that door, we were all down there lickety-split. It worked!
I hope you can find a solution to this that makes you confident to leave your son with his grandparents -- I'm sure they have a very special relationship.
How does your husband feel about all this?
April 24, 2009 - 10:28amThis Comment
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