Swimming pools: Are they worth the cost and the hassle?? (Plus, a little bit about the love of my life: Our aboveground pool in the 1980s)
For the past several years, we have had an indoor heated inground pool. (Some of you may call yours a bathtub.) This pool has been awesome and has provided endless hours of entertainment to our two boys. As we consider moving to another house, we are contemplating also getting an outside pool, but not of the bathtub type. We are over bathtub swimming pools, my friends. Our sons are also getting rather large.
That would kind of be a lame scene, right?
We don't want to put an outdoor inground pool into our new-to-us house, so we are considering buying a house with an inground pool already.
But, we are not sure.
There are many cons to an inground pool, of course. Things like cost, upkeep, water accidentally getting into our noses, swimmer's ear, ducks acting like they own the place, danger and the possibility of being thrown into it and having my hurrr all messed up at a future party.
But, there are many positives, too.
Not that I would really know. I've never had an inground pool in my backyard.
The aboveground? Well, that's something else.
I was allllll about the aboveground back in the 1980s. My dad had some of his work friends come over and they built this pretty little deck around the outside of it. We even had the sign, "Welcome to our _ool, we like to keep the P out of it." Hee. Hee. HEE. Seriously, though, if you told me anyone had it better, I would've laughed in your face.
(Sort of like this: "HAHAHAHA!!", except it would have been in a higher pitch because my vocal cords were smaller. It would have also been aimed at your mid-torso more than your face since I was a bit shorter back then.)
My aboveground circular pool was LEGIT. Here are some things my sister, my cousin and I liked playing in it:
#1 WHIRLPOOL: My dad would jog around the outer edge of it, which would create a whirlpool. My sister, cousin and I would then get into the current, float, yell "FASTER! FASTER!!" and enjoy the fruit of my dad's labor, as we were often known to do.
#2 NAIR COMMERCIAL: This was one of our favorite things to do. We would sit on the outer edge of the pool with our backs facing the water, cross our legs, point our toes and sing, "We wear short-shorts! If you dare wear short-shorts, Nair for short-shorts!" and then one by one, fall into the water. If you didn't know better, you might think we were professional synchronized swimmers having some fun on the side of the pool.
#3 SHARK ENCOUNTERS: Okay, it's time you all know about my dream job. I want to be a tour guide when I grow up. At this point, I actually want to be a docent and give tours of historic homes downtown. I don't really have time for that sort of thing right now, but one day I sure will. Anyway, one summer we went to Sea World and walked through the "Shark Encounters" exhibit. I loved the cadence with which the tour guides spoke and was in awe at all the facts they were able to spout off. So, in our legit aboveground pool, I pretended I was the "Shark Encounters" tour guide. So. Much. Fun.
#4 TEA PARTY: This one took exceptional skill. I think most girls played tea party at the bottoms of pools. Am I wrong here? We would do our best to sit Indian style (no such thing as "criss-cross applesauce" back then, you hear me?) on the bottom of the pool long enough to drink some tea, eat some cake and laugh at a joke or two before we had to come back to the top for air. These were the days where we wish we had gills. Fish could play tea party all day long, except they'd have some trouble with sitting and using tea cups.
#5 MERMAIDS: Of course, we played mermaids, except we kept our tops on. Well, except for that one time when we went skinny dipping. We were probably 8, 7 and 4. Have you ever seen a mermaid in a bathing suit? No, ma'am, you haven't.
My sons are all about the aboveground pool now. Our neighbors have a small one they bought just for the summer and my sons think they're practically in the Bahamas when they get a chance to swim in it.
Bringing back these memories makes me realize how much fun having a pool can be, but I know that it can be a pain, too. And expensive.
But, Texas is hot, y'all. REAL hot. A pool would be so refreshing...
So, tell me, if you have a pool, do you love it? Do you use it a lot? Do you wish you didn't have one anymore?
If you don't have one and it was feasible to get one, would you want one or are you happy just using public pools, friends' pools, etc.?
I'd love to hear your perspective.
"Mom? Can we go swimming?"
"Sure, but only one at a time! You're 15 now and only one pair of flippers are going to fit inside that bathtub. You can swim for five minutes and then your brother can swim for five minutes. Take turns! AND PUT ON SOME SUNSCREEN! Remember, the pool is right by the window."
That would kind of be a lame scene, right?
We don't want to put an outdoor inground pool into our new-to-us house, so we are considering buying a house with an inground pool already.
But, we are not sure.
There are many cons to an inground pool, of course. Things like cost, upkeep, water accidentally getting into our noses, swimmer's ear, ducks acting like they own the place, danger and the possibility of being thrown into it and having my hurrr all messed up at a future party.
But, there are many positives, too.
Not that I would really know. I've never had an inground pool in my backyard.
The aboveground? Well, that's something else.
 |
| Check that bad boy out. Source |
I was allllll about the aboveground back in the 1980s. My dad had some of his work friends come over and they built this pretty little deck around the outside of it. We even had the sign, "Welcome to our _ool, we like to keep the P out of it." Hee. Hee. HEE. Seriously, though, if you told me anyone had it better, I would've laughed in your face.
(Sort of like this: "HAHAHAHA!!", except it would have been in a higher pitch because my vocal cords were smaller. It would have also been aimed at your mid-torso more than your face since I was a bit shorter back then.)
My aboveground circular pool was LEGIT. Here are some things my sister, my cousin and I liked playing in it:
#1 WHIRLPOOL: My dad would jog around the outer edge of it, which would create a whirlpool. My sister, cousin and I would then get into the current, float, yell "FASTER! FASTER!!" and enjoy the fruit of my dad's labor, as we were often known to do.
#2 NAIR COMMERCIAL: This was one of our favorite things to do. We would sit on the outer edge of the pool with our backs facing the water, cross our legs, point our toes and sing, "We wear short-shorts! If you dare wear short-shorts, Nair for short-shorts!" and then one by one, fall into the water. If you didn't know better, you might think we were professional synchronized swimmers having some fun on the side of the pool.
#3 SHARK ENCOUNTERS: Okay, it's time you all know about my dream job. I want to be a tour guide when I grow up. At this point, I actually want to be a docent and give tours of historic homes downtown. I don't really have time for that sort of thing right now, but one day I sure will. Anyway, one summer we went to Sea World and walked through the "Shark Encounters" exhibit. I loved the cadence with which the tour guides spoke and was in awe at all the facts they were able to spout off. So, in our legit aboveground pool, I pretended I was the "Shark Encounters" tour guide. So. Much. Fun.
#4 TEA PARTY: This one took exceptional skill. I think most girls played tea party at the bottoms of pools. Am I wrong here? We would do our best to sit Indian style (no such thing as "criss-cross applesauce" back then, you hear me?) on the bottom of the pool long enough to drink some tea, eat some cake and laugh at a joke or two before we had to come back to the top for air. These were the days where we wish we had gills. Fish could play tea party all day long, except they'd have some trouble with sitting and using tea cups.
#5 MERMAIDS: Of course, we played mermaids, except we kept our tops on. Well, except for that one time when we went skinny dipping. We were probably 8, 7 and 4. Have you ever seen a mermaid in a bathing suit? No, ma'am, you haven't.
My sons are all about the aboveground pool now. Our neighbors have a small one they bought just for the summer and my sons think they're practically in the Bahamas when they get a chance to swim in it.
Bringing back these memories makes me realize how much fun having a pool can be, but I know that it can be a pain, too. And expensive.
But, Texas is hot, y'all. REAL hot. A pool would be so refreshing...
So, tell me, if you have a pool, do you love it? Do you use it a lot? Do you wish you didn't have one anymore?
If you don't have one and it was feasible to get one, would you want one or are you happy just using public pools, friends' pools, etc.?
I'd love to hear your perspective.
**Friday is the last day to enter the giveaway for the $100 small dog bed featured in "O" magazine. Enter here, if you want it!**