I should have just put in a pool.

[Sum Dum Gai]

It would have been cheaper. Signing the kids up for swim team was $354 up front, and $195/mo thereafter. The coach better be really really good!

[Colleenz]

Suckah!

[973beachbum]

Aug 30, 2012 18:47:46 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

It would have been cheaper. Signing the kids up for swim team was $354 up front, and $195/mo thereafter. The coach better be really really good!

What kind of pool are you thinkg about because unless you blow it up it isn't going to be much cheaper than that.

[Sum Dum Gai]

$195 a month for the next 8 years is going to add up. I mean, I'm no mathematician, but that's gotta be like a zillion dollars. The pool would have been half a zillion tops, and Loop and I could get our freak on in it after the kids move out. This way all I'm going to have in 8 years is a bunch of pictures of the girls swimming laps. #RipOff

[thyme4change]

Maybe they will quit before the 8 years is up.

A pool would be around $20k upfront and $125 per month - so I think swim team might be cheaper.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

Aug 30, 2012 19:04:02 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

$195 a month for the next 8 years is going to add up. I mean, I'm no mathematician, but that's gotta be like a zillion dollars. The pool would have been half a zillion tops, and Loop and I could get our freak on in it after the kids move out. This way all I'm going to have in 8 years is a bunch of pictures of the girls swimming laps. #RipOff

...yikes... and that $195/mo will mostly go up... and then, as a bonus, when they win an Olympic gold medal, they get taxed on their winnings...

[Peace Of Mind]

You've convinced me! Do it!! Puppies like to swim too and you can just call it bath time. Actually that works for kids too!

[973beachbum]

Aug 30, 2012 19:04:02 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

$195 a month for the next 8 years is going to add up. I mean, I'm no mathematician, but that's gotta be like a zillion dollars. The pool would have been half a zillion tops, and Loop and I could get our freak on in it after the kids move out. This way all I'm going to have in 8 years is a bunch of pictures of the girls swimming laps. #RipOff

I would prefer to spend my $24K for a pool we could all use but the real pity is the zillion dollars you could have had if you invested that $200 a month for the next 30 years.

You really are screwed!

[thyme4change]

and then, as a bonus, when they win an Olympic gold medal, they get taxed on their winnings

Yes, it is much smarter to put them in private school, pay for their college and have them get a job - because their salary won't be taxed. Oh wait.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Maybe they will quit before the 8 years is up.

Like hell! With the obscene amount I'm shelling out here they don't get to quit until I see them wearing an Olympic medal on a Wheaties box. Period. Some of that money is going to come directly out of my booze budget. You don't take away a man's booze and then just quit. That's the kind of thing that defense lawyers talk about right at the beginning of laying out their justifiable homicide case.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

Aug 30, 2012 19:11:09 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Maybe they will quit before the 8 years is up.

Like hell! With the obscene amount I'm shelling out here they don't get to quit until I see them wearing an Olympic medal on a Wheaties box. Period. Some of that money is going to come directly out of my booze budget. You don't take away a man's booze and then just quit. That's the kind of thing that defense lawyers talk about right at the beginning of laying out their justifiable homicide case.

...meanwhile, despite your sacrifice, they'll yell "Hi, Mom!" at the TV cameras...

;D

[Loopdilou]

Well, mom is the reason they swim. Dark used to yell at me if I took them on my own, because he doesn't know how to swim and has an irrational fear of other people drowning.

[Sum Dum Gai]

...meanwhile, despite your sacrifice, they'll yell "Hi, Mom!" at the TV cameras...

Right?! The world ain't fair I tell ya.

[thyme4change]

Like hell! With the obscene amount I'm shelling out here they don't get to quit until I see them wearing an Olympic medal on a Wheaties box

First off - that amount is spit in the ocean compared to what I'm paying for gymnastics.

Secondly - what happened to blah, blah - athletics create great people who are very successful and all go to college and graduate at the top of their class and go on to be high earners and love their spouse and the rain cloud never hangs over their house? You were the one touting how important athletics were to a child's development even if they never reach the "elite" level.

[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2012 19:11:09 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

With the obscene amount I'm shelling out here they don't get to quit until I see them wearing an Olympic medal on a Wheaties box. Period.

You may wasnt to rethink that. My brother tells me that he spent $8,000 on Olympics tickets (excluding airfare to London and hotel stay) for his wife and 2 other kids when my nephew won his gold and silver medals. And as far as I know my nephew doesn't get a Wheaties box although he's got some other endorsement deals.

The key difference, though, other than the ongoing expense of pools, is that there really are benefits to having a good coach and being on a team. I never had that as a kid because I was so bad at team sports and, after joining the local corporate athletic competitions at the age of 50 (just basic running, swimming, biking, etc.) I'm finding out how much fun it is.

[Sum Dum Gai]

First off - that amount is spit in the ocean compared to what I'm paying for gymnastics.

If it negatively impacts my booze budget it automatically qualifies as obscene. Everyone on EE knows that.

Secondly - what happened to blah, blah - athletics create great people who are very successful and all go to college and graduate at the top of their class and go on to be high earners and love their spouse and the rain cloud never hangs over their house? You were the one touting how important athletics were to a child's development even if they never reach the "elite" level.

I still believe that. Why do you think I'm willing to cut into the booze budget? I still reserve the right to gripe about it though.

[Miss Tequila]

You are still ok...my pool was $50K...it takes a LOT of swim lessons to hit that amount!lol

[Deleted]

pools suck.

Knowing someone with a pool is great.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Aug 30, 2012 19:11:09 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Maybe they will quit before the 8 years is up.

Like hell! With the obscene amount I'm shelling out here they don't get to quit until I see them wearing an Olympic medal on a Wheaties box. Period. Some of that money is going to come directly out of my booze budget. You don't take away a man's booze and then just quit. That's the kind of thing that defense lawyers talk about right at the beginning of laying out their justifiable homicide case.

But wouldn't your booze budget go back up then?

[swamp]

Dark, the type of pool you need to train for the olympics won't fit in your yard.

With your average in ground home pool, competitive swimmers will push off, steamline/glide/do a few dolphin kicks underwater, and smack into the wall. You need at least 25 yards to train.

[Deleted]

you do realize you are just at the tip of the iceberg as far as costs go, right? equipment costs.....entry fees.....travel to meets....etc. but what could be better than gettint up at the crack of dawn on weekends to go sit in a hot and humid place an watch your kids swim event 5 and event 50?

[Bob Ross]

You have kids.

[Formerly SK]

I've got you beat. DD's gymnastics coach is pressuring me to have her join team (she's 6yo). Practice would be minimum 12hrs/wk at a cost of $300/mo. Then there are all the costs for traveling/outfits/booster club/etc.

The kicker was the team practices during school hours - so I'd have to partially homeschool her. It didn't seem to phase them at all that I thought it was ridiculous to pull a 6yo from school to do gymnastics.

[thyme4change]

I've got you beat. DD's gymnastics coach is pressuring me to have her join team (she's 6yo). Practice would be minimum 12hrs/wk at a cost of $300/mo. Then there are all the costs for traveling/outfits/booster club/etc.

Yup - have been there for 2 years.

[zibazinski]

I had a pool and we still had the kids on swim team. It is what it is.

[Deleted]

How many hours do they have to practice? My knitting buddy's son was on a swim team and it was before and after school each day, with meets on the weekend. Brutal.

DS loves swimming and I'm thinking I may have to spend more time at the pool. A half an hour a week isn't going to cut it.

[Loopdilou]

Right now it's an hour a day 5 days a week, so we'll see! They're in it to stay healthy and have some fun. I could care less about the competitive aspect right now.

[Firebird]

Right now it's an hour a day 5 days a week, so we'll see! They're in it to stay healthy and have some fun. I could care less about the competitive aspect right now.

That's good, cuz they'll never end up on a Wheaties box at five hours a week

AKA Mrs. Dark Honor

I thought this was your dirty little secret?!

[souldoubt]

Find someone with a pool in a neighboring track, see when they leave for work, have the girls hop the fence and swim while Loop has look out duties and save $195 a month. That way when they get sick of it and don't want to do it anymore you don't feel as crappy about having paid for it. You're welcome.

[Loopdilou]

Aug 31, 2012 13:44:29 GMT -5 Firebird said:

Right now it's an hour a day 5 days a week, so we'll see! They're in it to stay healthy and have some fun. I could care less about the competitive aspect right now.

That's good, cuz they'll never end up on a Wheaties box at five hours a week

AKA Mrs. Dark Honor

I thought this was your dirty little secret?!

It got obnoxious reminding people.