Pool party ideas for daughters 7th birthday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't think drop off is bad as long as the parent in charge knows the child is a non-swimmer and has the expectation they will have to be extra vigilant.

Don't you think that is an unreasonable burden to put on the parent who's hosting the party? Children can drown in an instant. How is the parent supposed to host the party, coordinate games, serve snacks, and keep a constant eye on one particular child?

I have 2 kids who can swim and one who can't. I would NEVER leave my non-swimmer at a pool party and ask the party host to be "extra vigilant." Even the most careful person can lose track of the child or stop watching for a few minutes, and that is all it takes. I would not put that kind of responsibility on another parent, nor would I trust my child's safety to someone who will likely be distracted and not able to watch my child the entire time. I am not a helicopter mom and my kids are pretty independent, they roam around the neighborhood themselves on foot or by bike, etc., but when it comes to water safety, the stakes are just too high.

If I were hosting a party and a parent said "Susie really can't swim, can you just keep an extra eye on her?" I would say "I'm sorry, but I don't think I will be able to give her my full attention and I'd be more comfortable if you stayed and kept an eye on her to make sure she's safe."

No I don't. I think the parent choose to have a pool party at an age when drop offs were done and knowing full well they were going to be responsbile for the kids and that some kids can not in fact swim. So the parents have already made the choice to burden themselves.

The PP is right - a pool party in anything but a very shallow or training style pool at this age for a drop off party is a bad idea.

[Anonymous]

No I don't. I think the parent choose to have a pool party at an age when drop offs were done and knowing full well they were going to be responsbile for the kids and that some kids can not in fact swim. So the parents have already made the choice to burden themselves.

The PP is right - a pool party in anything but a very shallow or training style pool at this age for a drop off party is a bad idea.

Then I guess we'll just have to disagree. Most 7-yr olds can swim, so parents hosting a pool party for this age group can reasonably expect that the kids they're inviting can swim. Most of the parents I know would reason something like this "my kid can swim, so I'll drop her off" or "my kid cannot swim, so I will either not send her to this party, or I will stay to make sure she's ok in the water."

But you think it's ok to bring a 7-yr old who cannot swim and just tell the host parents they need to devote their full attention to making sure this kid doesn't drown, rather than running their own child's birthday party. Whatever.

[Anonymous]

OP here, we are having the party at our in laws house who have a pool in their backyard. Aside from family and very close friends who will come and swim with their children, my daughter is inviting three close friends from school who are good swimmers. I do not anticipate having a large number of children, however there will be plenty of adults both in and around the pool supervising.

I do like the idea of a Luau type theme and was thinking of getting some fun grass skirts and flower leighs for the kids....just wanted some other ideas for fun other than swimming.

thanks for all the suggestions and tips on having a safe pool party.

[Anonymous]

in the story told earlier in this thread, the 8 yo that almost drowned might have been a swimmer, held onto by an older 11 yo non-swimmer (not my story). So, I've learned in this thread not to drop my swimming kids off at a backyard pool party, because a threat is the non-swimming kids.

I am super cautious around pools. Have done year round swim lessons so know that my kids are competent. Thx for sharing this new scary perspective. (serious, not sarcastic).

[Anonymous]

I had a hawaiian themed pool party for DDs 7th bday. I kept it to under 10 girls and I enlisted 2 parents and some of my friends and family to watch the kids, we had one adult per child. I also kept actual pool time to under 1 hr then served food, did limbo with fun beach music ( which the kids loved) and cake etc....