When I was a Casper-and-Dillo aged kid, I remember public pools being much more fun than private pools, precisely for the tons of kids factor; the year my grandparents joined the private club, swimming changed from nonstop playtime to "you and a handful of other kids can mess around in between the adult times". Certainly a much better situation for the grandparents, and if I were into swimming now, it'd be a totally different vibe for me too, I'm sure.

We're lucky -- my area has several nice pools, and the summer family rates are pretty reasonable, but I have friends with kids that live in different areas with nice pools, so we vary our summer pool visits between places when M is here, so we don't pony up for a family pass to any one pool.

And the closest pool, which is pretty nice, with a grown-ups only pool area adjacent to the kid pool, and water slides and a diving board separate pool, is not that crowded when it opens at 11, and M is old enough, and a good enough swimmer, that I can float in the grown-up pool on my raft and keep an eye on him in the nearby kid pool at the same time when we go to the pool by ourselves.

And when I go with a girfriend and their kids, the kids entertain themselves and we can float for a while after playing with the kids for a while, then one of us can run and do a round up if we see 'em running off to the waterslide without asking permission, which they rarely do, since they're good kids.

When I was 10, my sister and I spent the whole day at the pool without adult supervision, but I am a little more paranoid, since our pool was an apartment complex pool, and this is a big public pool. I'd like a waterproof GPS to attach to his swim trunks, actually. Is that too much to ask?

M thinks he knows how to swim, but he can just dog paddle from the diving board to the side, only when I dive first and wait for him at the side, so we are definitely getting him swimming lessons this summer. I am a good swimmer, and I try to teach him, but when we're at the pool together, all he wants to do is play, and I get that. So -- lessons with someone else.

Serial: I got Bev spam too.

I'm not really sure what people get from a private swim club that they don't get from CRC pools, other than a feeling of superiority and, frankly, virtually no minorities.

I get a huge green space, lots more shade and fewer people in the pool where I'm swimming with my 2 year old. I'm a little insulted by your assumption above.

Sparky, I'm sorry. I was talking about my experience with private swim clubs in Cincinnati. I have no way of knowing what other cities are like, and I wasn't trying to imply anything about them.

wrong thread

me too, but at least I thought it looked weird before opening it this time. "keen detective instincts"

DRD PYR8

??

I went to Dread Pirate, after a little confusion thinking about "pay rate."

Oh! I couldn't figure that out either.

Oh! I was all, "pay rate? pyrite?"

OMG, My Boss! Either remember the things we've already gone over 1,000 times or stop worrying about the tiny things no one cares about! And also maybe care more about the things people DO care about! Shit.