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6.18.2013

Drowning Awareness

This post is a really hard post for me.
In fact I hate even putting the word "drowning" on my blog.
So I would kindly ask for no mean comments or judgements please.

I have thought about this post for weeks on end now.
I have seen so many reports of drownings and near drownings in the news lately.
Each one breaks my heart more and more.
As the weather is getting warmer and warmer these accidents are everywhere and all too common.
So I want to post this in hopes that I may reach out and help even just one person.

I have seen this article circulating for some time now.
I've read it many times. Along with others.
It truly breaks my heart, thinking of my son Miles going through the terrible ordeal described.

Click Here to Read the Article

Mark and I are parents that are always with and watching our children closely.
Maybe you could call us helicopter parents a little.
But Miles too was always by our side.
He didn't like to leave our sight.
That's why we cannot make sense of his accident.

With that being said I can attest that this tragedy of drowning and near drownings (as in Miles' case) can happen to ANYONE!
I can also attest to the truths in this article.
We were less than 10 feet away from Miles.
There were no sounds, no splashing, no crying out for help. Nothing.
I've often wondered if I wasn't in tune to the spirit enough to know something was wrong.
The spirit never whispered anything to me in that moment.
My mommy gut failed me as it never clued me into anything.
I truly thought my son was under the supervision of an adult.
You can and should never assume!

Along with this article I also want to stress the importance of false security in floatation devices.
I will never allow the floatation devices called noodles in my home or to be used by my children!
I hate seeing them all over in stores right now. They make me sick to my stomach!
They are a false sense of security and are more dangerous than anything.
In fact I have read that many public swimming pools prohibit the use of noodles due to the false sense of security for children and the parents and the dangers associated with them.

Please if you are reading this I ask you to use the utmost extreme caution when swimming with your children this summer and always.
NEVER assume anything!
Leave all distractions, i.e. phones, computers, ipads and so forth, away while with your children and water.
Even watch conversations with other adults as they are just as distracting. I attest to this myself.
Please consider letting your children play in water just as dangerous as letting them play with power tools, sharp objects and even being around vehicles.
Water is dangerous and needs to be approached as such.

I know the water is fun, refreshing and a huge part of summer.
But please I beg you pay close attention to your children when around water!
I would hate for any of you to experience this painful journey that our family is now on!
Watch those beautiful children carefully!

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the reminder, Andrae. I was at the pool today and kept thinking I can't be too careful and I can't rely on life jackets or other things. Even so, I was a little distracted talking to a friend. I will be even more careful next time! Thanks and love you!

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  2. Thanks, none of us can ever be too careful around water, lots of love. Xx

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  3. Very well written. Thinking of you lots. You are such a wonderful friend and mother. So glad to call you my friend. Your strength is such a huge blessing to me in my life.

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  4. Amen!! I have a massive soapboxy blog post brewing, but I don't know if it will happen or not. But it seriously makes me sick to see Facebook posts with a mom sitting in a beach chair, her cute painted toes in one corner and a book in the other, talking about their fun pool time. Put down your book, put down your phone, and get in the water! It feels like such a slap in the face to have people not take our experience seriously...like, people we're close to, people who should know better. It makes me want to describe in actual detail what things are like so maybe they'll think twice about sending their three-year-old into the pool by themselves while they nap by the pool.

    Sorry. I'm soapboxing here instead, haha. :)

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  5. I have been blessed to have 4 daughters. I am a mom that can not swim very well. Because of a few things that happened as a child I never learned how to swim. My kids have started swim lessons as soon as possible because of my fears of the water, and I have also taken swim lessons. In all my paranoid helicopter mom moments at the pool, there have still been instances with my kids or friends kids that send my heart racing. It's a matter of seconds that something tragic can happen. I have friends who don't have their kids wear any sort of flotation device because they don't want to deal or listen to tantrums. I have never waivered on swimming safety, but last week I did something I never thought I would do. My youngest daughter was in the bath, and my oldest daughter and husband got home from her softball tournament. I wanted to hear how things went, so I peeked at my barely 4 year old playing in her bubble bath, and stepped out of the bathroom. Seriously- I haven't EVER done anything like this, and would never have imagined I'd ever do it! But I did,and as I got caught up in the conversation with my husband and daughter I forgot my youngest was in the bath. It was 15 minutes later that I saw my 3rd daughter with wet hair (she had showered in another bathroom) and I jumped up and ran! In the maybe 5-7 seconds it took me to get to the bathroom I had all kinds of horrible images in my mind and was close to a complete melt down. I know I was blessed that day. I know I was given a little miracle because my spunky 4 year old was still just playing and having a great time. When I came running in I startled her, and apologized over and over for making such a bad mistake.
    I can't even wrap my mind around the heart ache you feel- I have read so many drowning stories and with each one my heart breaks. But then I make such an awful mistake that could have hurt my daughter.
    I know some will read this comment and judge me, but anyone who knows me also knows how incredibly paranoid I am with my kids. Please don't judge anyone, please just learn. Learn that mistakes and accidents happen to good parents who love and adore their kids, it is not always a neglectful lazy parent.
    Thank you for sharing this article, ans sharing your story so we can know in a split second accidents happen- and it can happen to anyone.

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