Screechy loud child in swimming pool. Iabu but this is a safe place to rant

[Grapeeatingweirdo]

I have ASD (moderate) and recently left my gym because the loud music, lights and people noise were all a bit too much.

There is a hotel across the road from me with a gym and pool for members and hotel guests. It was amazing going there for the first time today. There were a few other people in the pool and it was really quiet and serene.

Well, it was serene until a father and his very loud child came in and straight away played a very loud game of "tag". Kid was shouting "tag" every thirty seconds or so and generally being a loudmouthed pain in the arse.

You'd think that anyone decent would enter a swimming pool and take note of the general atmosphere and ambience before unleashing said loud kid.

I've taken my nephew swimming before, sometimes in loud public pools and once in the pool of a hotel we were all staying at. I had the social consideration to warn my six year old nephew to try and be quiet as we had walked into a what was quite a quiet pool.

It was horrible after such lovely quiet and I ended up feeling like I had to leave. I said nothing to them so this online rant is my way of getting it out! Places like Spashdown or soft play places are ideal for loudmouthed screechy kids, not very quiet hotel pools where three people are obviously relaxing. The spa prides itself in being calm and serene and there are signs everywhere telling people to be considerate of the comfort of other guests.

And rant over. I expect to be told I am being unreasonable. I have no children. I do like them though, just in small doses with the volume down.

What fanjo said.

It was a hotel pool. There is no suggestion that children were not allowed and just because children are not allowed in some spas does not dictate the behaviour required at THIS pool. With very few exceptions, most hotels with pools use this facility as family marketing.

I appreciate OP has ASD but what I objected to (and yes found "horrible") was the stated opinion that anyone "decent" would not behave this way.

Ok the child probably did not have special needs. But a surprisingly high proportion of children do such that the level of scorn displayed by Tinks is inappropriate. And to those levelling the same scorn at the dad's behaviour, well yes, also unlikely but not to the point of remoteness, that he may have SN too. I wouldn't be able to dx my husband as by the time you are 40 you have developped too many masking techniques but there is definitely something including in terms of social awareness in group situations.

We are members of a private gym. Fortunately it is very child/family friendly with some brief adult only periods. Other than at those times the atmosphere at the pool is what those using it make of it with no first dibs on ambience. I'd say that goes for anywhere sometimes not to my liking, naturally.

Do you think it was a case of "father left with child, look at me, syndrome"?

Or possibly the father has never been to a quiet pool for swimming before, and has only experienced those ones you tend to get on holiday with people behaving exactly as you describe?

I really hate busy swimming pools, and I swim a lot.

Gym pool has slowly whittled down its adult only sessions and certainly this last couple of weeks has been horrific, with the usually "safe" times clogged up with screamers, screechers,women keeping their make up on and chatting etc.

I get it, it's the holidays and everyone is fed up of being cooped up in a lounge kept hotter than the fires of hell for great auntie Doris (who is asleep in front of white Christmas) so everyone else heads to the park or the pool to pretend they're working off a few mince pies.

These days I go for lane swimming (half the pool all the time, so works against widthers and the makeup and perfume brigade but not the noise) and swimming with my waterproof swimming walkman (Sony, looks like headphones on a band, can't remember the name) which is ace, blocking most of it out, and good for running too as no cables.

My major swimming grump that I've not worked out how to address this hols is people swimming in the middle and fast lanes so slowly they are getting lapped by the postdates pregnant lady and avoiding getting kicked by the subgroup of these who have no spacial awareness in the lanes while doing said overtaking.

Roll on February when it all gets back to normal (and I might be back in the pool -with dp in the cafe with the baby)

As I have previously said children do not generally need to yell and scream in order to enjoy themselves. I realise some children have SN but there is no need for parents to encourage them to be loud.

It's a spa - people are trying to relax. Show some consideration.

Knottyknitter These days I go for lane swimming (half the pool all the time, so works against widthers

Oh the widthers. Why do people do that? If you are that nervous, surely the danger of colliding with someone in the middle of the pool makes it worse? I once shared a pool where everyone was doing lengths except one father with his daughter. The dd was a very good swimmer but the father was obviously instructing her to do widths and actually holding her back.

And those swimmers in lanes who over-estimate their speed and set off just before you, only to slow rapidly and get in your way so you end up treading water to avoid colliding with them.

Hi all, I definitely didn't mean to offend anyone with children who have additional needs. I realise that some disabilities are invisible but i would have refrained from my post had I the slightest indication that the child had such a disability.

Knottyknitter, that's precisely the reason I felt unable to cope with the pool at the public gym. It'd horrendous.

I'm going to go to the pool again today or tomorrow, if the loud kid is there again then ill look into adult only swimming times :)