Noodle's Pool Days

I took Noodle to the Unley pool this afternoon. This, for reasons not apparent to me, isn't located anywhere near Unley.

I reckon people have this view of the seventies and eighties in which parents slopped tanning oil on their kids, slipped them into asbestos cossies and then turned back to slap another, unmarinated, steak on the barbie.

But I don't remember it like that. I recall zinc cream, terry toweling hats and Mum not letting us anywhere near the water until she'd covered us in sunburn cream. Having to have pinned the Noodle down twice today to douse him in cream I have an increased respect for all she did for us.

Possibly we go too far these days though. At the pool I applied the sunscreen, wrestled him into his knee to elbow rashie, put his hat on and then took him into the toddler pool - centred firmly under a shade cloth.

He really enjoyed himself, climbing up and down the stairs, walking in the 0.6m shallow end, jumping into my arms, blowing bubbles, learning to kick. We whiled away most of the afternoon there. I was a little worried that he was damaged goods after he fell into a pool in Cairns last year, on my watch. He's been, understandably, pretty freaked near water ever since and has done a fair impression of a goanna going up a gum tree.

I did learn, from listening to other parent's, that the ice-cream is the dangled carrot of good behaviour at the pool. I heard kids threatened with the revoking of privileges if they didn't get out of the water, back into the water, let their little siblings head up out of the water. OK, I made that last one up.

Definitely going back if this hot weather keeps up.