Swimming Poll Party, you accept only if your kids can swim? Right?

[Sparklyglitter]

You're kids want a joint party to build rafts and play games in the pool - You send out invites that are quite specific, don't forget towel, swim suit/trunks, where the party is, time etc...
Would you expect a parent to turn up on the day and drop the bombshell....

My Child Can't swim?.......

And by the way see you later!

Grrr! Spelling! POOL PARTY!!

How old are the DC?

If the children involved are young enough that its not unusual for not being able to swim, then I would assume a parent wouldn't be so restrictive with a party and assume non swimmers would be catered for e.g shallow enough water, arm bands, trained lifeguard staff

If the children are older e.g secondary school, then I would have expected the parent to query it on receiving the invite.

As long as the non-swimmer turned up with arm bands or similar then I think it is fair enough for them to join in the fun

It does add to the stress if you are the host parent though. We did pool parties a couple of times in a small private pool you can hire locally and there is certainly no opportunity to relax; I just found myself doing an hour long head count!!

Tbh, I wouldn't put it past them. My dc's can swim but swimming parties are a bad idea. It's not fair to exclude kids who can't swim . You should be prepared to help those who aren't strong swimmers.

DS went to one swimming party. I was appalled the parents didn't get in with the kids. Luckily I had to take his little sister anyway, thank god I did because some of the other party kids were out their depth. We kind of bobbed around together while the host parents drank coffee .

I would assume it was a child depth pool so it wouldn't matter whether my dc could swim or not!

Would depend upon the age of the children.

I sent my DS along to an indoor skiing party without it occurring to me that he couldn't ski .

Non swimming dc are are able to go to swimming pool parties, as long as there is an adult in the pool, so I would assume non swimmers could go. Party parents always prepared to go in, from our experience.

Wow! Sorry didn't realise so many replies!

My dd is 9 other child 8 fastdaytears

MsMarvel & funkypeacock they are year 4 aged 8-9 Mother said she needed some kind of float, but didn't bring any!

megletthesecond - No intention of excluding anyone but to be honest would have expected mother to mention it on accepting invite for her own peace of mind if nothing else. We had booked a raft building and pool games party with a qualified instructor, but she didn't ask about any of this either.....

It all worked out in the end as they have to wear life jackets and helmets while rafting. Then although the child could have stood up in the shallow end during the games they chose to stay out, which suited me fine.
I was just so shocked that a parent would want to leave their child at a party and not reassure themselves that their child would be safe and happy!

megletthesecond I know it's easy to assume that we all have the same safety standards as each other and this reminds me again that we don't! scary!!
DH says never again!

They're an unexpected, steep learning curve!

See also, ice skating parties and broken wrists. (Not my dc's so far).

I might have assumed that children would be able to stand in their depth to be honest, so as to not exclude non-swimming children. Bit of a stressful party if a bunch of 8-9 year olds are out of their depth and all of different swimming abilities. It was your responsibility to ensure safety I think, more so than the other parent's.

Majesticwhine I think that's somewhat passing the buck!
At the end of the day we are ultimately responsible for our own children.
I paid a professional to run the party, so my due diligence was done in doing that and myself and husband being there as a second and third pair of eyes. I do expect parents to behave like responsible adults and to make me aware of any concerns/issues they may have - Unfortunately I can't mind read! if only!

I would expect they are welcome unless the invite said they needed to be a certain standard. A lot of pool are 1.2m throughout and inflatables say suitable for 7+ rather than able to swim x metres. Similarly, if it were a roller skating party I'd assume rollerskates were provided unless the invitation said otherwise.

The only swimming parties my DC have attended have required an adult:child ratio of 1:3 but no limitations on swimming ability.

I actually think it's quite mean to invite children and expect them to decline if they are non swimmers. Non swimmers could be limited to the shallow end. I'm an ex-lifeguard who's supervised a lot of swimming parties and it would never occur to me to decline a party invitation for a poor swimmer, unless the invitation asked me to.

I would have mentioned it to you in advance of the party but your arrangements sound fine for a non-swimmer and I would have expected you as the parent having the party to be able to reassure me on this.

As a sidebar, I come from a seaside town with a proper pool and diving facilities. Every year children drown in the 2 rivers that flow into the sea. It is rarely non-swimmers who muck about and misjudge the depths and currents. Please do not become complacent just because your child has some swimming certificates from the local pool.

At my local pool, the children had to prove they could swim a length, by swimming a length. If they couldn't do it, they were confined to the shallow end.