Taking your tots to the local swimming hole may not be as exciting as the one that set the seen for the love affair between Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson in Little Children, but afternoons of Marco Polo and creative diving board tricks will keep you interested. Though lifeguards and management companies are responsible for public pools’ cleanliness and safety, there are several precautions families should take to ensure a great experience.

Before entering a public pool, parents should:

* Look to see that the pool water is clean and clear. If you can’t see the bottom drain, the pool is not clean enough to enter.
* Make sure the drain covers comply to the new VGB Act. The new covers should have either a domed shape or large grates to prevent swimmers from being entrapped under water.
* Ensure that the pool staff have updated certifications in CPR and First Aid.
* Keep sick children out of the pool. Even with a swim diaper, tykes with diarrhea can spread waterborne, disease- causing germs such as Cryptosporidium (Crypto).
For tips once your tot has entered the pool, read more.

Upon entering the pool, parents should:

* Watch their own children. Don’t rely on the lifeguards to watch your children for you.
* Keep children within arms length when in the water.
* Encourage lil ones to avoid swallowing pool water. Kids only need to swallow 10 particles of Crypto to get sick.
* Take frequent bathroom and diaper check breaks to avoid accidents.
* Change diapers in bathrooms, not poolside and wash their hands with soap before reentering the pool.
* Reapply sunscreen often as children can still get sunburned while playing in the water.
* Comply with lifeguard-instructed adult swim breaks, they are designed to give kiddos a rest.

Learn More: http://www.lilsugar.com/3173123

A message from a respected Doctor in our community about Swine Flu

Hi folks,

Please read this email in its entirety. It contains very important information, and I'm giving you a scoop that isn't being given in the newspapers based on my reading today.

I would like to give you my take on the current state of the Swine Flu virus with signature H1N1 (I'm going to refer to it as the H1N1 virus from now on).

I am not usually one to panic about these things, but I think this is a very serious outbreak and I'd like to give you some advice you're not seeing in the newspapers.

Please feel free to forward this to your friends.

Here are some facts:

1) There was an outbreak of : resistant H1N1 influenza virus earlier in the flu season. Tamiflu is a drug commonly given to either prophylax against influenza, or to lessen the symptoms.

2) Influenza typically undergoes shifting of its genome during the course of the year, and this genetic shifting is frequently implicated in the worldwide pandemics that you've heard about in 1918 etc.

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The answer is easy: VACCINATE! I know it is hard to subject our kiddos to another “traumatic” injection but what is by far more traumatic is having our children catch the flu and suffer through the high fever, aches, fatigue and general misery associated with this illness. The flu is also associated with missed school days for kids, missed work days for parents, possible disruption of holiday plans and transmission to others including our elder relatives that are at particularly higher risk for complications.

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