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Julie Hoag Writer

Community Building at our Backyard Pool

April 7, 2016

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Owning a pool in our backyard is a community blessing. It brings the neighborhood, friends, and family together to make memories and have fun. Having fun together is the ultimate bonding tool, especially when repeated.

When it’s summertime, we have pool parties. The kids do flips into the water together.They dare each other to see who can swim underwater the furthest. They make up fun games.They play water football toss where they try to jump and catch it mid-air. It’s good times.

Of course there’s the work to go along with parties and pool care, but it’s worth it. Our modern world needs a strong community pulse.

Kids doing swimming races in the pool
Swimming races with the steam of the pool and bonfire above, a swim in the fall

Community Building

We community build through an annual neighborhood potluck where neighborhood kids play, swim, and socialize. Parents benefit from socializing and talking with neighbors to create a more close-knit network in our ever-increasingly busy world.

This is not just our party, but it’s a community wide event run by the local police station called Night to Unite. A family can host a block party in their own neighborhood and the local authorities stop in to visit. We’ve enjoyed visits from police officers, the local elementary school principal, and firefighters who come to the delight of the kids to spray a fire hose over the street from the fire hydrant. It’s a joy every year to see the kids dash and zoom under the giant water spray. It’s a great trust building event for kids to have a positive interaction with local authorities.

Oh the Pool Play Dates & Bucket-heads!

Play dates almost always involve a swim at our house when the pool is open. Friendships are strengthened as they play and swim. The pool becomes a blank arena for the kids and their creativity.

The kids get the credit on this creative idea they entitled Bucket-heads. I store small pool toys in old ice cream buckets. I like the cheap storage and we are always emptying ice cream buckets so there is no end to them. One day, my three boys and a friend took these ice cream buckets and put the buckets on their heads like helmets.They pranced around the pool with the handle down as the chin strap and pronounced themselves Bucket-heads.

My favorite Bucket-heads activity was the water slinging. They made water shapes by slinging a bucketful of water through the air. The water would arc in a C shape and sometimes it was a big C and sometimes it was small. It became a contest. I did my duty as lifeguard mom. It is a blessing watch these uninhibited minds create fun out of simple things like ice cream buckets and water.

Water slinging with a bucket to make the water in an arc

Yes, It’s True, The Pool Work Never Ends

Owning a pool is a large amount of work, but it also delivers us a significant amount of joy. Yes, I clean it constantly, and strong storms cause me dread and hours of scooping leaves and debris. But thanks to our robot vacuum “Bertram”, named by my kids, my cleanup job is a little bit less. I test the water daily and add the needed chemicals, a process I’m still trying to perfect.

The Work of a Pool IS Worth it

The joy lasts all summer as we enjoy hosting planned parties. Sometimes the last minute parties and summer afternoon gatherings turn out the best. I love the spontaneity of the unplanned afternoon or evening neighborhood pool party of summer as moms, and dads, come down and hang out for social time as the kids swim. We enjoy a beverage, a glass of wine, and social time between mediate the kids’ disagreements. We act as co-lifeguards.

We have also hosted many of our kids’ sports team end-of-season or mid-season parties and this is a huge team building event for the kids of the team. I am a strong believer in those who have fun together create a bond that helps them work together towards a common goal. Which is what team sports is all about. Plus it’s fun for the parents of the team to hang out too. And I just love the memories it creates for kids and parents alike.

Each summer I am excited to see what friendships and community ties can blossom this summer in and out of our backyard pool. Being a pool owner rocks!

Kid in the pool with a floatie

 

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Hello & Welcome! I’m Julie. I’m a wife and a mom to 3 boys. I’m sharing Ideas for Recipes, Family Lifestyle, Travel, DIY & Pets:) I’m SO happy you are here! Leave me a comment, I’d love to hear from you. I’m also a YA Author of the novel “Hungry Hearts” published in 2020 with Swoon Romance/Month9Books and Georgia McBride. “Out of Control” releases in 2021.

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