What Age Pool Membership?

[Anonymous]

Get on the list now! Pool membership waiting lists in this area are absurd. Even if you have a third child, your “baby” will probably be 4 or 5 years old by the time you get off the list.

I got on the waitlist when we were househunting and not yet pregnant. We didn’t get in until DS was almost 3 years old. I’m told the current list is even longer and the wait time is more like 7 years.

[Anonymous]

Why don’t you all sign up to one of the McLean pools? Vast majority are 1-2 years wait lists max and a 10-15min drive away from Arlington.

[Anonymous]

In MD, so can't speak to the specifics of the pools you're considering, but I wonder why you'd wait? We joined our neighborhood pool when our first was 1yo and became permanent members about 5 years later. Neither of our kids is on the swim team and the oldest is now a teenager who isn't super excited about hanging out with family at the pool. But we're still there 3-6 times a week - it's basically our backyard during the summer months, especially since our actual backyard is too buggy. Both kids learned to swim on their own, love to swim, and it's a great place to hang out with friends.

[Anonymous]

We joined our pool when our oldest was 6 months old. We now have a 4 and 2 year old and this summer have gone 3-4 days a week. Last year with a 1 and 3 year old I still went at least 2 times a week. Many times I go by myself and it’s fine. I am sooo glad we have that option instead of the park during the hot summer days! Plus consistent exposure to water is the best way to learn how to swim! My 4 year old can swim and my 2 year old wears swimmers.

[Anonymous]

You are way overthinking this. The waitlist for Overlee, for example, is now 10+ years. Just get on lists now so you have the option to decide later!!

[Anonymous]

Pool clubs are trash join a country club

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you all sign up to one of the McLean pools? Vast majority are 1-2 years wait lists max and a 10-15min drive away from Arlington.

We live close enough to our pool for the kids to ride bikes there. Sometimes we’re back and forth to the pool multiple times in a day. We wouldn’t get nearly as much use out of a pool that’s a 15 minute drive away.

[Anonymous]

We were on a similar situation, OP. Bought a house with a neighborhood pool that had a long waitlist. We have been on the waitlist for the last 4 year. The first three years, we were just throwing money out the window. But this year, we have been actually using our partial membership, because our oldest is now taking swim lessons. So now, I am actually looking forward to getting that membership in a few years.

[Anonymous]

We joined the summer after the oldest was in kindergarten. Became the social place for kids and their parents - we all liked it, because whenever we went we all had friends there.

[Anonymous]

I highly recommend joining a pool and getting your kids in the water as much as possible. Without spending A LOT of time in the water, it is really tough for kids to learn how to swim, and they can develop a fear of the water that is hard to overcome.

We have two kids, 5 and 2, and we just joined our neighborhood pool this summer. We held off in previous years because its expensive to join and our oldest son has always been REALLY fearful of the water. In February of this year we went to Florida for a week and stayed in a house where there was a pool in the backyard. At the beginning of the week my 5 year old would literally just stand in the shallow end of the pool holding onto the wall and was too scared to jump in or take a few steps into the pool. He got less scared as the week went on and he would take a few steps into the pool. After that I signed him up for swim lessons and every weekend I took both of the boys to the local indoor public pool by our house for recreational swim. When we joined the pool this summer he signed up for the pre-team and had "practice" four days a week for a month or so. We also went every weekend to give him as much pool time as possible, and have continued going in the afternoons when I get home from work now that pre-team is over. At this point, he can take about 8-10 strokes of freestyle in a row, so he is very close to swimming completely. I really credit his improvement to just being in the pool as much as possible. The lessons help but if they don't have time in the water, they don't learn to be comfortable or practice the skills they are developing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We became members at Overlee just at the time ds was old enough to join the swim team.

I know lots of people who join the waitlist and then join Knights of Columbus on a year by year basis while they wait.

Next year you can jump on the Overlee August pass (on sale in the spring but you need to be quick or they sell out) and spend August there to see if you like it.

If you are near Overlee, having the pool nearby will probably be something you love when the kids are older.

This is a great idea. I’ll keep an eye out for them to go on sale. Thanks!

We are doing an August pass at a different pool and it has been a great way to test it out without committing to the full summer. We have a 3yo and baby. It has really helped 3yo get more comfortable in the water, she was a bit timid previously, and baby enjoys it too. Hoping we can become full members in 1-2 years. But yeah it’s a two parent effort, I would never take both kids on my own.