With summertime just around the corner, it’s time to start really thinking about how you’d like to spend your summer and stay cool with the kids. If that includes using a pool, they better know how to swim, according to a swim coach and influencer on TikTok.
“I work for the fun police and I’m here to ruin your life,” said Swim Coach Kendall on her TikTok video about children being kept away from all pools if they don’t know how to swim. In this viral video, she responded to questions from viewers from another one of her posts that suggested parents hold their children in the pool the entire time and puddle jumpers weren’t safe. “If puddle jumpers are present and I’m there, I’m gonna pop ‘em,” she said.
Thankfully in her most recent video, Kendall had some tips and tricks to back up her claims about puddle jumpers.
@swimcoachkendall can we all make a pact to get our kids swim lessons before we encourage them to play in the pool? floaties are not a substitute for swim lessons 😬 #greenscreen #swimming #swimlessons #toddlermom #momsontiktok #survivalswimlessons #Parentingtips
The first comment she responded to in her response video said, “Keep him safe? I have to hold him the entire time we’re in the pool? What do I do when he’s bigger and still can’t swim even though he loves the water?
“I don’t know how to say this, but yeah, the answer is yeah. You have to hold your kid in the water if they can’t swim!” Kendall said. In response to another viewer’s comment that said “I’m saying if I’m choosing to have my 2 year old in a puddle jumper occasionally at the pool or not go to the pool at all, I’m choosing the puddle jumper.”
Kendall responded that she had “the best idea” in response to this comment.
“What if we stop bringing our kids to the pool if they can’t swim? Hear me out. Hear me out!” she said.
Kendall added she lives in Florida and she gets that it’s hot and you need a water activity. “Can I interest you in a splash pad?” she asked. “Oh, you don’t have one in your town, you can buy one!” Kendall said as she shared photos of splash pads you can buy on Amazon behind her. Then she said your kids can also build character by playing with a water hose in the backyard.
If you must go to a pool and you have an infant, Kendall suggested using a Water Sling, because it’s hands free and the child is close to you above the water—and you’re still holding them.
“We are so obsessed with having our kids like the pool and have fun in the pool before we prioritize giving them skills to survive in the water,” Kendall said. “I’d really like to change that, but I don’t have a million ideas on how I can change that, but I’m gonna post more videos on here. And I’m going to show you how you can teach your own kid how to swim, because I’ve been teaching thousands of children to swim since 2010, and I promise you, you can do it,” she said at the end of her video.
Bottom line? The caption of her video read, “Can we all make a pact to get our kids swim lessons before we encourage them to play in the pool? Floaties are not a substitute for swim lessons.”
