Summers are for pools

Sam Holtman

We bought Sam a little inflatable pool last week so he can enjoy the water on these hot summer days. It’s perfect because it’s only about two feet in diameter and it comes with built-in shade, for my fair-skinned toddler.

He loves it. We just put some bath toys in there, and he splashes and plays – for only about 20 minutes because he has the attention span, of, well a one-year-old boy.

I love watching him get used to the water.

Over the weekend, we went to a cousin’s house to swim in their much larger pool with friends and family. It’s fun to watch the pool fill up with more kiddos as the years go on.

Sam took a while to warm up to the water, but then he eventually loved it. We pulled him around in an inflatable raft with holes for his legs and a little roof for shade.

I want him to grow up loving the water and being safe and comfortable in it.

I never really have been a great swimmer. I’m pretty sure I took almost every level of swimming lessons twice, and I don’t even think I finished the end.

I can basically swim to save my life, but I’ve never been proficient.

But as a teenager, Matt was a lifeguard at the indoor pool the Conception Abbey used to have.

I remember wanting to go to the pool a lot more than I did as a kid.

My siblings took me sometimes, or my dad would take me when he was going to town anyway. Sometimes my grandma would drop me off. But living 10 minutes out of town with a farm family, I didn’t go nearly as often as I wanted.

Friends who lived in town seemed to live at the pool all summer. Their skin was so tan, and their blonde hair started to turn green from all of the chlorine intake.

I didn’t care about swimming. I cared about socializing.

We would play baseball in the grassy area outside pool doors.

As I got older I would go hang out next to the lifeguard room, as many of my friends worked there.

I may have spent hours there not even getting in the pool.

Even this weekend, I was pretty content just hanging my feet into the water. I love to be near water, and people playing in water, but I don’t have to be in water to have fun.

But there is something about being near water in the summertime that just seems right. The summer heat and water are meant for one another.

Whether it’s weekends on the lake, at the swimming pool, a pond, or even in the two-foot inflatable pool, water makes most of us feel like we’re doing summer right.

I’m making all-new memories with Sam, watching him learn and play in the water.

Kaity Holtman is the Agriculture Editor for the Maryville Daily Forum.