I've had a kiddie pool in the front yard with water in it. The kids and I were playing around it and Micah did a forward dive into the water. Praise the Lord that I was right there and I immediately grabbed him by his shirt and fished him out.

I promptly sent him to his bed to keep him out of the way while I was doing it and I drained all the water out of the pool. If I wasn't right there with the kids, he could have drowned.

Please don't leave water out in your yard! If you want to use a kiddie pool, please drain it after every use and refill it when you're ready to use it.

Just not worth the risk!

[loveyou]

good reminder, Ruth - thanks! so glad Micah was ok!!!

Good not to let the water sit after use anyway due to bacteria build-up in the heat, algae, animals using it, attracting bugs.....I do so myself and highly rec. to others, to dump and wash thoroughly with dawn after each use....toys included, especially making sure to empty all plastic toys that hold water due to bateria growth.....
If you want warm water to use, simply refil each morning first thing and set in the sun, by 10am it is as warm as a bath for them and fresh and clean!

This is a good reminder, Ruth. Growing up in CA, there was a law that a fence had to be so high (maybe 6 feet?) if you had a built-in (in ground) pool. Where I live now, most of the large pools are above ground, but very accessible to anyone. It's a bit scary to think that a kid could just easily scale the small fence and get in the pool. Even in winter when the pool is covered, but not empty, poses a risk.

Also, living next to creeks or ponds requires a lot of vigilance as bodies of water seem to attract kids. Our youngest had a close call with a pond that was in a park behind our house and it was a heart-pounder. He was only a little damp and fine. We took longer to recover. :???: :???:

P.S. Better yet, get swimming lessons for the kids.

P.S. Better yet, get swimming lessons for the kids.

That will definitely be on the agenda for Hannah this summer!

Ruth-- it is good for Hannah but Micah too, my kids all took lessons from an early age and all 3 swim like fish, in fact my 5 yo and 7 yo just started competitive swimming (and they have to be able to swim 50 meters themselves to join)

Thank god you were right there!

P.S. Better yet, get swimming lessons for the kids.

Yep, we are just at the end of DS swimming lessons (5 weeks). He has 5 more lessons which are only 10 minutes per lesson M-F (which prevents exhaustion and too much ingestion of water). After less than 90 minutes of lessons (9 lessons), he is swimming like a fish. You can see the video on my facebook.

He's taking lessons from ISR and they start from 6 months to 6 years old. It's more of a water survival course and it was SOOO worth the money (but of course you can't put a price tag on your child's life). Plus, our kid has NO fear of water (running to the ocean etc. ...so we found it absolutely necessary to get these lessons.

Here's the website if interested: http://www.infantswim.com/