Facebook Pixel

Comment Reply

This is definitely a "depends on whom you ask" question.

Being Navy "brats," and living in a coastal community, and having our own pool, meant that all us kids learned to swim before we could walk. I was a distance swimmer, constantly challenged by my dad. It was a very good skill to have, considering our family spent a lot of time in deep water. My grandfather used to dive as a youth and taught us breathing and underwater skills. If anything, we should know how to survive in open water, and I knew how to come out of being crushed to the sand by the force of a wave while body surfing, LOL!

I also taught my kids how to "swim" while they were still babes. They actually didn't swim at first, but learned to flip over on their backs. My DH totally freaked out the first time he saw me dunk our oldest son. But, he was also very grateful that the kids were taught so early on to respect the water, and all three became excellent swimmers.

There's no guarantee against drowning. You can drown in shallow water. But, there is a little more peace of mind as a parent knowing that your child has been taught how to swim, more importantly, how to not panic in the water and to respect it.

May 29, 2009 - 7:47pm

Reply

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
By submitting this form, you agree to EmpowHER's terms of service and privacy policy