Can working parents make summer swim happen?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your comment.

I had been struggling to figure out what was wrong with the whole summer swim team practice scenario. You hit it on the head!! It’s being run just like it was 40 years ago. In addition, the economy is tougher even for UMC families. Housing costs are astronomical and inflation has hurt everyone’s pockets. Cannot longer afford for one parent to stay home anymore.

[Anonymous]

We have three kids and my husband and I have always worked full time.

We found that hiring a summer babysitter was cheaper than three kids at day camps.

Our set up for summer has been:
Weeks 1-6: summer babysitter and swim team
Week 7: week at grandparents
Week 8: day camps or sleep away camps
Week 9: family vacation
Week 10: day camps

[Anonymous]

We're in our second year of summer swim at a pool with a big and competitive team and it's becoming clear to me that we probably need to get a summer babysitter vs. doing camps if our kids are going to keep doing swim team. Technically, they can do the early morning mixed-age practice before camp, but they're missing out on being there for the age group/fun/team stuff that happens during the "regular" practice and it makes for a really long day. Plus one or both parents have to duck out early from work for Monday meets and Friday pep rallies and occasionally some other weekday event.

Ideally I'd still like for them to be able to do some weeks of camp after swim season is over because they enjoy it. Plus vacation. Already thinking about next summer's logistics...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I had been struggling to figure out what was wrong with the whole summer swim team practice scenario. You hit it on the head!! It’s being run just like it was 40 years ago. In addition, the economy is tougher even for UMC families. Housing costs are astronomical and inflation has hurt everyone’s pockets. Cannot longer afford for one parent to stay home anymore.

This. The summer swim team practice schedule in 2024 is more or less exactly the same as it was in the early 90s when I was a 9-10. And cost of living in the DMV ain’t exactly the same as in 1991.

[Anonymous]

Our team has like 200 kids. Practice is from 8 am until 11:30 so every age group can get adequate time. 3 days a week evening practices are 4:30-6 so that patrons can still use pool. Wednesday meets and Friday pep rallies (no practice).
There isn't time to do evening practice on the same level and close most of the pool for for 3+ hrs every evening.
Agreed that its near impossible for a regular working parent without a summer nanny.

[Anonymous]

I always find these threads weird. I hired a summer nanny for the swim team weeks when my kids still needed care. It was cheaper than three in camp. They went to practice, got to participate in other activities, and played at the pool with the nanny. If what works better for your family is day camp, that’s okay, it’s okay if swim team doesn’t work for your family, there are lots of activities that I have said no to over the years bc they don’t work for our family. Our team has tried offering early morning or afternoon practice at times, but they don’t tend to be very well attended. Kids who go to camp all day are tired, they don’t want to do a hour long swim practice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always find these threads weird. I hired a summer nanny for the swim team weeks when my kids still needed care. It was cheaper than three in camp. They went to practice, got to participate in other activities, and played at the pool with the nanny. If what works better for your family is day camp, that’s okay, it’s okay if swim team doesn’t work for your family, there are lots of activities that I have said no to over the years bc they don’t work for our family. Our team has tried offering early morning or afternoon practice at times, but they don’t tend to be very well attended. Kids who go to camp all day are tired, they don’t want to do a hour long swim practice

Yea. For 3 kids the economy of scale works as 1 nanny probably same as 3 camps. Especially of the kids are one not doing specific camps like coding or arts etc. for one kid a camp week is $300-500 so its a lot pricier for nanny.

[Anonymous]

The issue is that the summer teams cannot get the pool for practice during other hours. The pools are open to the public for their hours, and swim team practice has to be scheduled before the pool opens. Very few pools or HOA's would close the pool for several hours in the evening to accommodate swim team. Then think of the non-swim team families who want to go to the pool after work? Ideally, teams could get lane space 2 evenings per week to include other subset of kids, but it just would not be the same experience or enough time in the water IMO. Most summer swim families get help or adjust their schedules, and are not doing many (or any) camps.

[Anonymous]

I have found that the vast majority of parents at our pool work—the laptop is a common accessory during swim practice and/or during B Meets. Most parents either have flexible enough schedules to work from the pool during practice, hire a local college kid to schlep (that’s us), and/or live close enough for the kids to bike to the pool on their own (for ages 10+). Our pool offers an early morning (7:30) practice every day and evening practices 3x/week in addition to the normal practice schedule. My younger one goes early before camp. Our pool also runs a summer camp so kids get dropped at 8am and then get taken to practice by the camp counselors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have found that the vast majority of parents at our pool work—the laptop is a common accessory during swim practice and/or during B Meets. Most parents either have flexible enough schedules to work from the pool during practice, hire a local college kid to schlep (that’s us), and/or live close enough for the kids to bike to the pool on their own (for ages 10+). Our pool offers an early morning (7:30) practice every day and evening practices 3x/week in addition to the normal practice schedule. My younger one goes early before camp. Our pool also runs a summer camp so kids get dropped at 8am and then get taken to practice by the camp counselors.

Yes. The pool is an office for most of us during the summer, but I recognize the privilege of being able to work from a splintered picnic table in 102 degree heat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always find these threads weird. I hired a summer nanny for the swim team weeks when my kids still needed care. It was cheaper than three in camp. They went to practice, got to participate in other activities, and played at the pool with the nanny. If what works better for your family is day camp, that’s okay, it’s okay if swim team doesn’t work for your family, there are lots of activities that I have said no to over the years bc they don’t work for our family. Our team has tried offering early morning or afternoon practice at times, but they don’t tend to be very well attended. Kids who go to camp all day are tired, they don’t want to do a hour long swim practice

Yea. For 3 kids the economy of scale works as 1 nanny probably same as 3 camps. Especially of the kids are one not doing specific camps like coding or arts etc. for one kid a camp week is $300-500 so its a lot pricier for nanny.

I also know families with only children who were good friends that split a summer babysitter for a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

This is the sole reason our kids never did summer swim, and it really made us sad. It was a big part of both my and my husband’s childhoods. I pointed out to our pool that they’re cutting out dual working families and asked why they don’t offer options that would allow more people to participate. They basically just said yeah, we get that a lot and brushed me off.

[Anonymous]

Working parent here. We got summer babysitters for the first half of the summer to make it work, shared with another swim team family to keep the cost down. For us it’s totally been worth it. Swim team has pretty much defined our kids childhood and helped us build a strong neighborhood community.

Having some job flexibility/WFH definitely helps make it work, especially once they are older and outgrow a nanny. Our pool also offers evening practices, which we’ve also used on occasion.

If working parents want to make it work, there’s usually a way, but there certainly are trade offs.

[Anonymous]

Take a step back, because the pools can't win here:

- with am swim only, or pm swim 2xs a week, they cut out families where both parents work, and/or those kids in the pm swim don't really improve in the overcrowded lanes

- with pm swim, everyone else gets angry that they are taking up the pool when everyone else wants to use it after work, after camp, etc.

We both work. When our kids were younger, they did the pm swim team. No, their times didn't improve tremendously, or maybe not at all, but it was a fun, social time for them. Even though they are strong athletes in other sports, they swam B meets. Again, very social and fun! Where else do all ages and genders cheer for your kid?

And this may be specific to our pool with a swim team of 200, but nearly all the A meet swimmers are year-round swimmers, not summer swimmers. Looking back, I'd say summer swim was fun, rec-league sport for our kids, rather than club soccer/AAU, and that is ok!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have found that the vast majority of parents at our pool work—the laptop is a common accessory during swim practice and/or during B Meets. Most parents either have flexible enough schedules to work from the pool during practice, hire a local college kid to schlep (that’s us), and/or live close enough for the kids to bike to the pool on their own (for ages 10+). Our pool offers an early morning (7:30) practice every day and evening practices 3x/week in addition to the normal practice schedule. My younger one goes early before camp. Our pool also runs a summer camp so kids get dropped at 8am and then get taken to practice by the camp counselors.

Yes. The pool is an office for most of us during the summer, but I recognize the privilege of being able to work from a splintered picnic table in 102 degree heat.

This is indeed a massive privilege. This entire thread makes me realize that there are so many people in this area that have jobs with this kind of flexibility, and it’s really eye-opening.