When Will and I moved to Manhattan five years ago, one of the things on our list when looking for a house was a pool. As in, NOT a pool. We were moving from Florida, where, as our pediatrician put it, "drowning is in the Top 5 causes of death for children under age 5" (aka drowning in pools, drowning in lakes, etc.). We had two young children and owning a pool seemed like a huge, unnecessary burden. Coupled with the fact that Kansas is cold in the winter and pools can only be used at certain times of the year, and I couldn't figure out why anyone would ever want a pool.
Fast forward five years. and we just bought a new-to-us house with a creek in the backyard, on an acre of land....and containing a pool. I am still not entirely sure what possessed us to make this crazy move, but am so, so glad that we did. And one of the primary draws is having our own pool.
Of course, being novice pool owners, we have learned a lot in our first few weeks. Such as . . .
10. Even normal-functioning pools can lose up to 1/2 an inch of water a day. We freaked out at first, noticing that the water level was lower after a few days, only to learn that it was completely normal. I thought you refilled the pool once at the beginning of the year and were done for the season....not so much. ;)
9. Saltwater pools use A LOT of salt. Will added 240 pounds of Morton's salt (as in, table salt) to our pool a couple of weeks ago . . . and our pool is nowhere near as salty as the ocean.
8. But saltwater pools still take chemicals. It's nowhere near the amount of a "regular" pool, but I was surprised at all of the different chemicals our pool takes at different points to keep the water balance properly regulated.
7. Life-jackets for non-swimmers are, well, lifesavers. Daniel is not technically a non-swimmer but I feel so much better with him using our pool wearing a life-jacket at all times. We've talked about buying extra life-jackets to have around so that anyone who comes over can use one, but we haven't actually gotten organized enough to go to the store yet.
6. Night-swimming is awesome. This is one huge advantage over having a pool right in our backyard - we can sneak in a quick swim and then hustle everyone off to bed.
5. We have only gone to the city pools one time. I was envisioning that we would still all get season passes to the city pools so that the kids could swim on all of the cool accessories, but in hindsight, there's no need to.
4. We unexpectedly discovered an outdoor toilet/sink, which has been great for kids (not sure about adults). This outdoor bathroom had been winterized when we moved in, and still has a funky smell, so it wouldn't be my first choice of restroom, but is awesome for kids who are all wet from swimming and who need to get to the bathroom quickly.
3. Robot vacuums are lifesavers, too. Our kids dubbed our machine that came with our house "Billy Bob Joe," and he has been not only efficient at cleaning, but fun to watch, too. It (he?) broke for a bit and I can attest that vacuuming the pool by hand is not nearly as much fun as it is cracked up to be. ;)
2. Animals LOVE the water. We have discovered two dead baby birds in our pool filter, and countless large spiders and other insects in the pool water. Swimming: It's a Nature Experience!
1. THE MORE THE MERRIER!!! Swimming with just our family is fun, having friends over is even better . . . and having 13 families with a bunch of kids, adults and food is pure magic.
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