Do you belong to a club or swimming place?

[hillview]

I am thinking of signing up for a swimming country club sort of place. Does anyone else do this? Pros/cons? I am thinking a few times a week the sitter/my parents would take the kids there.
TIA!
/hillary

[Cam&Clay]

Our $300 a year homeowner's dues cover the use of our neighborhood pool. I think that's a huge bargain. It's a beautiful pool with a very active swim team. DS1 loves being on the team.

[g-mama]

We belong to a swim club and have for the past four years. We go almost every weekday in the summer and meet up with friends there, so it's a win-win for both me and the kids. We love it. It was definitely a challenge when I was responsible for all 3 kids, none of whom could swim well at first, but well worth it to get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine and fun. They take swim lessons every year and it's much easier now.

[TwinFoxes]

We may. Here there are neighborhood swim clubs. Where I grew up, it was either a rec center, or a fancy country club. I'm not sure it will be worth it just yet, because I can't imagine taking the girls by myself right now, so we'd only use it on the weekends. There about 3 or 4 in our subdivision. The people who belong seem to really enjoy it. If one of them has tennis courts too, I may be more tempted to join.

[KrisM]

I looked into the country club last year and it was too much money for what we'd use it for. There is a gym a few miles away and it's less money than the country club and has both indoor and outdoor pools. I am hoping to join that this summer.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Our gym has an indoor heated pool, showers, babysitting, etc. so we hope to just keep swimming there with drop-in visits to clubs with friends sporadically. Mama + 3 non-swimmers (2 in swimdiapers) = freakshow.
The neighborhood adjacent to (which kinda includes) ours has an old school pool, literally, from the 70's...and we'll likely join it in a few years. Old school as in diving board and a ladder-type fiberglass slide.. $300 initiation, then $550/year dues. Pizza night on Tues, open until 8pm, etc.

[pb&j]

We'll be joining a swim club this summer. It's walking distance from our house, which is a big plus. They have a great toddler pool, which is a plus.

We were also considering our local public pool, which also sells season passes. It's cheaper than the swim club, but farther away, more crowded, and has more limited hours. However, we'll probably join that when DS is older b/c they have an awesome swim team.

[TonFirst]

Um, the Y?

The city where I live has a public pool that's really great and open all summer - but I must admit that it was the first public pool I've ever been to. Where I grew up in suburban Houston, every subdivision had a "club" - NOT a country club like, say, the Cherokee Town Club (chi-chi $30K+/year club in ATL), but a nice swim & tennis club with a snack bar, swim team, etc. that everyone in the development was able to join for an annual fee - something line $250. We LIVED there in the summer - we called it "the club." But it wasn't a tony country club, by any means. Still, my husband, who grew up swimming at community public pools in Northern Virginia, made merciless fun of my blueblood background ; ) when I told him I'd never been to a public pool until I went to our city pool.

So, to answer the question - we go to our city pool sometimes, but the Y here has a zero-entry pool that is SO NICE with a toddler, I can't even tell you how great the zero-entry is. We belong to the Y year-round, so we mainly swim there. My son may do the "rookie" team at the city pool.

And if you can join a club that has a zero-entry pool, OMG, DO IT. There is no better way to enjoy the pool with a toddler, especially if you also have a bigger kid or preschooler.

[Elilly]

Yep, we've joined every summer since DD was 3? We LOVE it! This will be the first summer that I am not at home part time with the kids and our sitter will take them 2-3 times per week. It is cheap as far as entertainment goes, about $300 for the summer.

[wellyes]

Our gym has a big outdoor swimming park that is an extra membership, and we'll definitely join when our kids older. This year with a barely-2-year-old and newborn it wouldn't be worth it. But for 3-6 year olds it would be awesome.

Locally there is a beach club that is $800/summer, about 10 minutes away from the free beach at a the local pond - has sandy beach, is clean, has concessions and changing stations and a big playground. The $800/summer one has the exact same things. I just don't get people sometimes.