Aunt teaches her 6-year-old nephew how to swim against her sister-in-law's wishes: 'If they don't even try to teach him, I will continue to do so.'

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  • Sweet little boy in swimsuit with arm floaties in the pool
  • Am I the bad guy for teaching my nephew how to swim against his parent's wishes?

    When I say "swim", I really mean mean teaching him to tread water and doggy paddle and the beginnings of a breast stroke.
  • My nephew is 6 years old. When he was two he fell into a pool at a friend's house after a gate was left open, and his friend's mother saved him.
  • My SIL was understandably very traumatized by the experience, and since then he has been banned from being a pool or to close to any body of water.
  • This poor kid went to the beach and wasn't allowed to be more than ten feet close to the surf.
  • A lifeguard's raft sitting on top of a sandy beach
  • She is in therapy and they keep saying "eventually" they'll teach him how to swim, but at this rate he would have been a teenager before that happened.
  • A woman sitting on a couch and talking to her male therapist
  • I was at my MIL'S house this weekend and my nephews and neices were there to use her subdivision's pool.
  • Nephew was being looked after by her and she was going to stay behind with him while my husband and I and some of their parent's took them swimming.
  • I said f I and took him along. My in law's were all saying SIL would be ped and I knew she would, but I think it's insane that he has no ability to even try and rescue himself if he falls into water again.
  • I was with him in the water one on one the whole time. He loved it.
  • Wasn't scared at all. I didn't hide if from BIL and SIL at all and they are completely ped, my SIL because I took him swimming and my BIL because I upset SIL.
  • My BIL actually told my husband he thinks it's a good thing nephew started getting swimming experience, but he has to side with his wife which is understandable obviously.
  • SIL wants an apology and a promise not to do it again and I won't give it.
  • I'm not actually sorry at all and if they don't even try to teach him I will continue to do so.
  • No. 1 because of safety and No. 2 because it is extremely depressing when we're all going to the pool and have to tell him to stay behind and he cries about it.
  • SpeedDemon241428 NTA. I understand his mom's in therapy, but it's been 4 years. While I understand it may not be reasonable to have expected her to be OK with her son being close to a body of water by now, he needs to know how to be able to manage falling into water again if it happens. "We'll teach him eventually." Well, what are y'all gonna do in the interim if he falls in water again and resets the d In clock on the whole thing? Also, the kid's getting older. He's gonna see his cousins gettin
  • Simple_Bowler_7091 NTA. One of the greatest gifts a parent can give their child is to not pass on their trauma and insecurities to their child. Your nephew seems to have recovered from his traumatic near drowning incident. Your family frequents the ocean and has a pool and your nephew is eager to get in the water. His mom needs to seek the help she needs, whatever help she needs, to get past this past trauma and not hold her child hostage to her fears.
  • Dog-girl-1986 NTA siding with your wife is a good thing unless they are mentally unstable and hurting their children. So BIL is the biggest AH followed by SIL for not working on this more
  • Ahleanna-D My mother went out of her way to instill her fear of water into me because she nearly drowned when she was younger. I vaguely remember telling her once that she may have fared better if she at least knew how to swim herself. I asked for swimming lessons, and she took me to one session - and at that point, I already had a bit of fear with just having my face submerged. She didn't take me to any more lessons after that. Since then, I've had a few people I know over the years try to teac
  • LizP1959 You did not teach him to swim: you tried to drown proof him. His mother is negligent for NOT doing that.
  • plz_dont_perceive_me NTA Child's safety trumps mom's feelings.

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