For a kid, having a pool in the summertime is a core memory. Visions of splashing with your siblings, doing trick jumps from the side wall, and diving from the sketchiest spots, mark the best moments of a young person's life. Scraped chins, soggy ham sandwich lunches, and pruney fingertips are some of my fondest memories from childhood, but what kids don't realize is the double-edged sword of pool ownership.
More dangerous than you think, pools are hardly the relaxing summer memory for safety-focused parents. And sometimes, in the scariest parenting nightmares, the pool in the yard becomes the most menacing turquoise omen of summer break.
This mom, a cautious and careful woman, repeatedly begged her husband to build a safety fence for their 20x40 pool, but with no spare time and a gaggle of 5 kids eagerly waiting to jump in, it never happened. But she adamantly put her foot down, refusing to let anyone swim until the safety measures were abided.
The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.