My Annual Summer Rant

It's that time of year... time for me to complain about the inattentive parents at the pool. I just don't get it. My daughters have "graduated" to the big pool. I stay near the edge if I'm not in with them. I want to be able to get to them as fast as I can if there's a problem. The biggest problem, though, is the kids whose parents aren't watching them. This is a neighborhood pool, not a city pool. There is no lifeguard on duty.
One day, a little boy kept jumping in the pool... practically on top of my girls. Where was his mom? On the other side of the pool, sitting in a chair texting away. I finally told my girls to move and asked him to please be careful so he didn't land on anyone. The mom kind of glanced my way and then went back to texting.
A few weeks ago some kids were using a raft in the pool. They kept steering the raft near the steps where my girls and lots of little kids were playing. At one point the raft was OVER the head of one of the younger kids. For whatever reason, I'm the only parent who noticed this. I kindly, but firmly, suggested they keep the raft away from the steps so no one got hurt. At this point, their mom went off in a litany of Spanish. I'm not sure if she was yelling at me or them. I don't really care.
Yesterday I was at the pool and watched a mom put water wings on her two-year-old, let the little girl jump in the deep end (5 feet) and then promptly laid down on her back and sun bathed. Water wings can be a great tool to help a young child gain confidence in the water, but water wings are not a life saving device. What happens when the little girl gets tired and is stuck in the deep end with no one watching her?
I'm sure I tend to hover a bit too much at the pool. I have four kids to pay attention to, while most parents are there with one or maybe two kids. But I would rather hover and prevent a tragedy than put my child at risk. 
And so, I have finished my annual rant about the inattentive parents at the pool. I will try not to bring this up again this summer!