When I was a kid, our apartment complex did not have a pool.  What was great, however, was that none of my “well off” friends with houses had pools either.  I have only recently come to realize the great impact that our somewhat local recreation center had upon my entire childhood.  Growing up in Dallas, there were public pools.  Admittedly they were horrid concrete boxes that would scrape one’s skin off, but they were still a place where everyone could go.  It was a sort of an economic equalizer.  Early on my red-haired mother burned and freckled her skin walking me to the local community college for swim lessons.  Texas was in a heat wave and polyester was in fashion; God bless my poor mama.  In the summers, around second grade, my daddy would drop us off at Harry Stone recreation center for the day and he’d pick us up after he finished work.  I was never embarrassed by my mother who also liked to swim.  Her favorite was the backstroke.  She had a daisy yellow one piece with a swim cap to match.  I can still remember the thrill of that pool — despite knowing that coming into ANY form of contact with those viciously rough edges would scour the skin off my bones or put countless irreparable snags in my good swimsuit.  They had two diving boards — a low dive and a high dive.  I hate to admit I was always too chicken for the big one.  I was one of those kids who never could flip and so even just a regular dive freaked me out.  I cannot recall how many hours, days, weeks, months, and years that pool was endlessly cool for me.  Now I can only imagine what our club pool must be like for our little one!  There’s a full service bar (OK, that’s for me) as well as a whole menu full of extras like “rocket” popsicles, cold bottled water and lemonade.  They provide chairs, tables, umbrellas, and towels.  In addition they have pool toys and floats.  And that is just on regular days!  For special events (like holidays and the beginning and end of summer) they have all sorts of cool extras:  a pool DJ taking requests, a special buffet menu, face painting, balloons, glitter tattoos, giant blow up water slides, and even a mermaid who swims in the middle pool with the kids.  The multiple pools have varying depths, fountains, and even lights which change.  I think it is nothing short of magic.  And so, on this last pool day of summer at our club, I found myself fervently hoping our little girl truly appreciated all the lovely and magical things it had to offer.  For me summer meant late nights, June bugs, cicadas, and the smell of honeysuckle in the breeze.  I have shown my little girl all the “friendly” bugs I played with as a child and I have Star Jasmine planted all along the side of our house.  The sweet smell of it hanging in the warm summers’ night air brings me back to my childhood.  I am torn; I want our daughter to be carefree and happy, with all the simple pleasures that are magical and come along with childhood.  On the other hand, I refuse to let her become an “entitled” country club child.  I am very proud that she calls EVERYone “ma’am” and “sir” — regardless of station or race.  She adores the staff and I hope I have instilled in her how to address them properly.  Just like my mother, she loves to swim.  The late, great American competitive swimmer and actress Esther Williams once said, “Somehow I kept my head above water.  I relied on the discipline, character, and strength that I had started to develop as that little girl in her first swimming pool.”  That is what I want for my child:  she is a water baby and I hope that “discipline, character, and strength” will remain with her — long after summer’s final fling.