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Forum
-> Parenting our children
-> School age children
amother
Salmon
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Sun, Jul 10 2016, 2:39 pm
amother wrote: | We have 5 boys ages 12-1/2, 11, almost 9, 7, and 5. We hold that boys don't go swimming with women from age 3, so the only way they can go is if DH takes them all. Would you let your DH take 5 boys together or is it too many to watch safely? DH is quite a responsible father. The older 2 boys know how to swim - not amazingly well, but they're pretty independent in the water, and the 12-year-old hardly needs to be watched. Do you think this is a safe arrangement? Last year we kept the youngest of them home since I felt it was too dangerous and he didn't really care, but this year he's been begging to go along with his brothers. |
Please don't lynch me for this, but this is the one area where I feel strongly that Safety outweighs Tznius. I used to hold that boys don't swim with girls but I am a strong swimmer and my DH is not. I would not trust him swimming with any of our kids alone, as I am concerned enough about his own swimming. Watching five children, even good swimmers, is a challenge for even a very able swimmer. Maybe another parent can go with your DH? Or an older boy with excellent swimming skills that you can pay to help out?
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greenfire
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Sun, Jul 10 2016, 2:42 pm
Maya wrote: | No. I wouldn't even trust myself with more than two or three kids, and I'm an attentive and obsessive helicopter parent. How can one person keep an eye on five kids? |
well I wouldn't want to leave some of my kids out ... instead you take turns helping them and/or stay in the shallow side depending on their ages
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Mommy3.5
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Sun, Jul 10 2016, 3:08 pm
Yes he does it all the time.
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Pooh
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Sun, Jul 10 2016, 5:47 pm
I would let only if my husband knows CPR and the little ones have life jackets on- that's what we do when only one of us can get in the water for tznius reasons.
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abaker
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Sun, Jul 10 2016, 5:51 pm
Yes for those ages I would have no problem with it. If they were 1, 3,4,5,and 6 I'd say it's too hard to keep an eye on them all.
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rosenbal
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Sun, Jul 10 2016, 5:57 pm
anotherima wrote: | I would have the little ones swim with a tube or life preserver. |
Exactly that I was going to say. We do that even when we're both there.
Edited to clarify. NOT a tube but a real life vest for that age/weight with the under crotch strap or the Puddlejumper one.
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amother
Purple
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Sun, Jul 10 2016, 10:48 pm
Thanks to you all. DH is a very strong swimmer and he does go in the water to be with the kids, not to swim by himself at all. I'm also an obsessive helicopter parent who refuses to take more than 2 kids to the pool alone, which is why I'm so unsettled about this, but DH reassures me that he's perfectly fine with it, and since he is very responsible, I have to trust that this means he knows he can keep them all safe.
There are no older teen boys around right now in our little hick town. We live in a very small community and the boys go away as soon as they finished 8th grade.
I'm going to look into the Puddlejumper for the 5-year-old. I haven't heard of that before.
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ora_43
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Sun, Jul 10 2016, 11:38 pm
I would be fine with it as long as your dh is responsible re: pool safety (which you say he is).
I've been at the pool with a bunch of kids younger than that. It's doable as long as none of the kids are going into deep water (which they didn't, because they knew anyone who did that without permission would be banned from future pool trips). The older kids (who could swim) could swim in deeper water while the younger ones rested by the side of the pool (me with the younger kids, watching the older kids).
It's a shame that you can't get a babysitter because I agree with previous posters that it makes it a lot easier, but your oldest two should be old enough to help out too if needed.
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