和孩子一起游泳时,千万不要只指望救生员

When my daughter was 3, we decided that it was time to teach her how to swim. Every Saturday, my husband took her to a nearby underheated pool to play water.

女儿三岁的时候，我们决定是时候教她游泳了。每周六，我的丈夫都带女儿去附近加热不足的泳池玩水。

One Saturday morning, as my husband and daughter were in their swimsuits waiting patiently on a bench for class to start, they watched as a 5-year-old in a SpongeBob rash guard and swim trunks climbed the ladder down into a quiet area of the pool and started to swim around.

一个周六的早晨，当时我的丈夫和女儿正穿着泳装，耐心地坐在长椅上等着上课。他们看到一个5岁的孩子穿着海绵宝宝泳衣和泳裤沿着泳池的梯子爬到了泳池内一片安静的区域，然后开始游泳。

Suddenly, there was an odd sort of splashing, and he started to go under. The kid's mom, fully clothed and clutching her purse and phone ran over to the edge of the pool to grab her son but he was just out of reach and sank before their eyes. My husband told my daughter not to move and jumped into the water to fish the kid out.

突然，他开始拍打着水，慢慢下沉。孩子的母亲穿得整整齐齐，抓着她的钱包和手机就跑到了泳池边，然后伸手抓她的儿子，但却怎么够都够不着，眼睁睁的看着孩子慢慢沉下去。我的丈夫让女儿不要动，然后就跳到泳池里，将孩子从水中救出。

Luckily, everything ended well. The kid was fine, the mother eternally grateful, and the lifeguard . . . well, the lifeguard eventually showed up when the kid was coughing and crying.

幸运的是，最后一切都好。孩子没什么事，母亲也特别感激，而救生员……当孩子咳嗽、哭喊着的时候，救生员终于现身了。

Don't rely on the lifeguard. Yes, making sure a lifeguard is on duty is the first step toward water safety, and there are plenty of fully capable, expertly trained lifeguards out there. But all you need is one moment of distraction, one teenage newbie too absorbed with the girl in the florescent bikini to notice your kid spluttering in the water before it's too late. Always have another set of adult eyes on your kid, preferably yours.

别指望救生员。是的，确保救生员在执勤是水上安全的第一步，而且有能力、经过专业训练的救生员也很多。但只要一分神，一旦这个青少年救生员被穿着比基尼的漂亮女孩儿吸引，注意不到你的孩子溺水，那一切就太晚了。总该再让一位成年人看着自己的孩子，最好还是自己看着。

Teach your kids to swim. Despite the fact that she spent most of the semester blowing bubbles to the tune of nursery rhymes, my daughter did manage to overcome her fear of the water. Next item on the to-do list is to get her to do more than just hold her breath to the count of 10. I'll feel a lot better when she can at least doggy paddle without a floaty.

教孩子游泳。尽管这一学期女儿大多数的时间都是吹泡泡、哼着童谣，但她真的克服了她对水的恐惧。待办清单上的下一个事项就是让她憋气不止10秒。至少当她能不穿泳圈就能狗爬式游泳时，我会感觉好很多。