I write this not to draw sympathy or attention, but to remind everyone to not judge others too harshly and to always be vigilant.
We recently returned from a beautiful week in Mexico. My father finally had the chance to retire, took a lay-off severance package, sold some company stock and took the whole family (11 of us) to a Pacific-side resort for 7 night vacation none of us adult children will ever afford on our own. Pretty much every day was amazing, even with a moody 13 year old in tow, and an overly sensitive, overly sarcastic 20 year old niece. Then there was that one day. Not even a day, a moment. A moment when I was almost the subject of a cnn.com article.
It was a day like any other at a Mexican Riviera resort: eat, sit by the pool, drink, swim with the kids. My 4 year old doesn't swim, but at the urging of a lifeguard friend, we bought a Class IV personal flotation device for her. We'd tested it out a bunch prior to Mexico to make sure it would work and she was comfortable with it. It was amazing. It gave her freedom to enjoy the water with the older kids without having to climb all over mom and dad. We always made sure we were watching when she swam, even with the vest on. We felt comfortable with her using it. Even without it, she's pretty comfortable in the pool, long as she stays on the steps or in the baby-pool.
Now, this vest doesn't keep her above water 100%. She could still get dunked like when using the water slide or jumping off the pool deck. But again we were always nearby, and if not us, my older kids were always nearby.
It was post lunch, we'd had our burgers, fries, tacos, pizza, whatever for lunch and the wife, 13 year old, and 4 year old went off to the bathroom. My mom came over and we were talking about something, I don't remember what exactly. I was staying in the shade a little because I burn very easily, up on the deck finishing off my lunch and mojito. While chatting I see my 13 year old coming back with the 4 year old in hand and I pay no mind as my mom and I continue to chat.
The next moment, I hear a ear splitting scream. Time slows. I glance towards the noise and I see a small face below the water line, grasping desperately for the pool handrail leading down the steps. I remember thinking "Who's kid is that?" I see my 11 year old start to move towards this kid, and her second scream "CLAIRE!" finally registers in my head. "Wait. That's my kid!" I can still see her eyes; complete abject panic.
She'd stepped into the pool and was playing on the pool steps. As little kids do, she was holding the rail and hopping down the steps. The last step was a little deeper than she anticipated, and she didn't have the PFD on.
Time is still moving slowly, but all I remember is seeing my 11 year old grab her, trying to lift her up, and completely rationally I think "What if she panics and takes her sister down too?" Suddenly I'm in the air jumping feet first into the 4'6" pool, right next to both of them, wrapping my arms around them both and picking them up above the water.
Coughing, sputtering, and a lot of water coming up are soon followed by tears and sobbing. But everyone's fine. The 11 year old even styled herself as somewhat of a hero (rightfully I think) for the rest of the day. Somehow I even managed to set my mojito down without spilling it.
We always say to ourselves "I'll never let that happen to my kid. I'm attentive. They're never out of my sight." But all it took was 10 seconds while talking to my mother. Ten seconds that could've turned the vacation of a lifetime into a nightmare.
So why do I write this? Why share? Why open myself up to the likely thrashing I'll receive for being a horrible parent. Seems like every year we read heartbreaking stories about kids who drown under the eyes of their friends and parents. The comments of course flow: "worst parent ever" "what were the parents doing?" "why wasn't someone watching?" "that'll never happen to my kid."
Be mindful of kids around water, and be kind to the otherwise mindful parent whose attention strayed for 10 seconds.
Glad everything turned out OK [beer] Children and turtles can be amazingly fast if out of eyesight for a moment. Yep can happen to anyone including the best parents.
any person who would label you as"worst parent ever" for what you just described....has never been a parent.
besides..that's my title, just ask my stepson.
Ten seconds is plenty of time for a tragedy.
Glad to hear it all ended well. [thumbsup]
Quote from: bobspapa on July 12, 2014, 02:06:37 PM
any person who would label you as"worst parent ever" for what you just described....has never been a parent.
Agreed!
So glad your 11 year old raised the alarm, allowing you to act quickly.
Did your 4 year old make it back to the water that holiday, or since?
GK
All credit to your 11 year daughter her quick thinking and high pitch scream save the day for sure, she is most definitely the hero. I'm glad this story turned out ok, good on you for sharing.
[thumbsup]
Quote from: Speeddog on July 12, 2014, 02:21:38 PM
Ten seconds is plenty of time for a tragedy.
Glad to hear it all ended well. [thumbsup]
This is true and I'm glad all turned out well.
I can't help but think back to an experience from earlier in my life that was similar but did not turn out as well.
A girl I dated in high school had a 2yr old brother that learned to climb the ladder to their above ground pool and jump in.
Well, the short story is that someone left the ladder up and their ten seconds started. He climbed up, jumped in and nobody knew until it was too late. He didn't survive.
I'll never forget that day.
Again, so glad all turned out well!
Quote from: GK on July 12, 2014, 03:40:50 PM
Did your 4 year old make it back to the water that holiday, or since?
she was a little clingy for the rest of the day, understandably so... but soon back to normal
(http://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/10409666_10204197630286182_3378516333949515738_n.jpg)
Quote from: Speeddog on July 12, 2014, 02:21:38 PM
Ten seconds is plenty of time for a tragedy.
Glad to hear it all ended well. [thumbsup]
This.
Thanks for sharing that scary story - for me, at least, it's going to have exactly the intended effect, reminding me to pay attention when kids are around water or other potential dangers.
Thank you & I'm glad everyone's OK, smiling, and still having fun in the water.
Yes thanks for sharing. It sounds like you were attentive to me.
Quote from: bobspapa on July 12, 2014, 02:06:37 PM
any person who would label you as"worst parent ever" for what you just described....has never been a parent.
besides..that's my title, just ask my stepson.
How do I contact your Stepson?
It sounds like you have nothing to be ashamed of. Kids will do all sort of reckless things, intentionally or otherwise, and you can't be there all the time. Luckily you were, on this occasion. I'm just glad it turned out OK.
When we were little, my youngest brother hadn't figured out the reason he floated in the pool was his water-wings, so just jumped in the deep end without them. My dad, who can't swim, jumped in and fished him out, while my mum (who swims well) stopped to take her watch off! He's fine now, but he did manage to contract a pretty exotic pneumonia from the dodgy Greek swimming pool and ended up having a partial lobectomy. Neither of my parents had let us out of their sight the whole trip, yet still it happened. I'm afraid that's life.
How do I contact your Stepson?
that's the hard part, he's busy sleeping all day.
Quote from: bobspapa on July 16, 2014, 09:51:05 PM
How do I contact your Stepson?
that's the hard part, he's busy sleeping all day.
You must be talking about my Stepson....
I think it's me... my 17.5 yoa step son thinks I'm the worst. And I thought mine was the only one that slept all day? ??? My Dad would have beat me with an iron rod had I ever slept past 7:00-7:30am. "Dammit boy, you're missing work you should be doing". My modern day version of that is "you're burning daylight."
So glad everything worked out and all is well with the author's story. You cannot make an appointment with disaster. It's a fact. And kids and animals will prove that fact every moment of every day. You get a pass card on this one. Just a normal day of pending disaster and mayhem. Such is the life of all parents. [thumbsup] Kids will only understand when they are parents. [popcorn]
pishhh. I've almost drown 3 different times when I was a kid. Maybe that's why my folks invested so much money in swim lessons. Anyway, the point is, to be a good parent you need to get a shot gun and show it to any boy that she might bring home in the future thus insuring that she will never be in over her head again!