Is it rude to ask our kid's guests to bring their own towel to swim?

[dreamcometrue]

no! We moved in this house last July, first time we have ever had a pool. It seemed like I was washing beach towels non-stop, I went through so many. Finally I put my foot down and said bring your own towels or don't swim. If it's a neighborhood kid, I make him/her go home and get a towel. Or I make the kid call his/her parent.

And then the sunscreen...and then they get hungry after swimming for 3 hours and want a snack or a full blown lunch! I am still not sure how to handle that one. I don't want these kids to get sunburned, but at $7 or $8 for a can of spray on sunscreen, it does get expensive. And I don't like to feed my kids in front of their friends when they are hungry too, so I am not sure how to handle this.

I should start charging admittion...

 

["Got Disney"]

We have pool parties all the time and instead of bring your own booze its bring your own towels and sun screen...

We will supply if last minute and we also have extra Bathing suits for the boys friends just incase, that we by from Target on sale and just keep throughout the years, Along with the boys outgrown ones.

And to answer your question...no it is not rude...but is rude for your friends to expect that you supply them. Just let them know to bring there own.

As for the op above we will feed the kids. Easy to make PJ sandwitches or cut up some watermellon.
They love the attention and the kids feel special and makes there stay more enjoyable. Mostly if you give them some coolaide. I just make the sand. and cut them into 4s

It works out easier if you plan for after lunch like 12:30-4:30 ...before dinner this way a small snack works great.

 

[poohandwendy]

No, it's rude for them not to bring them.

LOL, my mom knew your pain. We grew up with a pool and my mom was always washing towels, lending bathing suits, wiping up dripping floors and feeding and hydrating the entire neighborhood of kids.

 

[Pooh93]

I can't believe people aren't sending towels with their kids? I always make sure my kids have their towel, sunscreen and ear plugs before sending them off somewhere to swim. Isn't that what all of those cute little swimming bags are for......to keep the kids stuff together, so they can grab and go?

 

[JunieJay]

Absolutely not rude at all. I would think any guest coming to your home to swim would know to bring a towel.

 

[meandtheguys2]

Not at all. I'm sure it is a case of no one even thinking about it. Like the sunscreen post. I always have mine at the pool, and there are a handful of drop-offs. Not a lot, but I have gone through 2 or 3 times more sunscreen than usual! Thank goodness for buzz coupons!

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Wow - sunscreen, towels, lunches, beverages, etc. Some of you are basically running a free summer camp!

I would tell them to bring their own towels. Handing out an extra isn't a big deal but ten extra towels a day isn't fair to you either.

The sunscreen thing is a little more complicated - I wouldn't want to be responsible if a kid had a burn or a reaction to a sunscreen chemical or anything like that, so that part makes me a little more nervous. It seems that a parent should be in charge of that. Where do these kids' parents think their kids are? Do they know they're at a neighbor's pool and not give them a tube of sunscreen or slather them up first? I mean if the kid has a clean bathing suit on, the parent can also give a towel and sunscreen, IMO.

 

[Mkrop]

We have a pool too and no one has ever showed up without towels even the kids who live right next door. I have never sent my kids anywhere without towels or being greased up as well. I always asked the kids if they have sunscreen on and most do. Yesterday was th first time I had to do sunscreen but the kid came over from a library trip and maybe the mom forgot b4 they rushed out of the house but he politley asked me if he could have some sunscreen no problem.

Everytime we have kids over I declare what the rules of the pool are. You could tell the kids that the rules of the Smiths pool is to 1) no running in the pool area, 2) share all floats,3) wait your turn to jump off diving board 4) bring your own towels!

If they are old enough to swim without parents coming too they are old enough to let mom/dad know they need to bring a towel.

 

[Daxx]

When we're invited to go swimming at someone's house, we always bring our own towels. I can remember that sometimes we've been asked to ... but I thought that it was just general knowledge that you bring your own towel to another person's pool.

I suppose the only exception would be if you didn't realize you were going to go swimming and borrowed your friends swim suit. I know that my niece has her friends over and they just decide to go for a swim, so she lends her extra swimsuits out. Therefore, the guest is unprepared to swim, so since you've loaned the bathing suit, you need to provide a towel.

Even when we go to my Dad's house, we know that DS will play in the sprinkler or he and my bro's kids will go at it w/super soakers. We always bring a swim suit and towels!

Otherwise, I see nothing wrong w/a "No towel, no swim" policy! Esp. if they're neighborhood kids coming to use the pool! I'd prob. be more lenient w/family, though!

 

[DVCLiz]

Sunscreen and lunch feels different to me than towels (which, of course, can always be spread in the grass to dry instead of needing to be laundered, anyway!) I probably wouldn't mind fixing the occasional PB&J, as long as I didn't have nut allergies to worry about, but I would balk at providing free sunscreen all summer. If kids constantly forgot, I'd have a "bring your own sunscreen or wear a T-shirt to swim in" rule so I wouldn't have burnt kids.

Also, I think it would be perfectly fair to call these parents and say, "I'm happy to have your kid over to swim this summer, but we're not able to provide x,y and z for everyone. If you want to send him without towels, sunscreen, snacks, or lunch, please send him with $20 each week and I'll make sure he gets those things."

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I think it is rude to send your child to swim without a towel, and you really shouldn't have to ask them it should be common sense.

Me too. No one has their own pool in our neighborhood, but the kids always bring towels even if they're just playing on the Slip 'n' Slide together.

 

[Soubrette]

Also, I think it would be perfectly fair to call these parents and say, "I'm happy to have your kid over to swim this summer, but we're not able to provide x,y and z for everyone. If you want to send him without towels, sunscreen, snacks, or lunch, please send him with $20 each week and I'll make sure he gets those things."

I think that's what I'd do as well. Call the parent, and first say how pleased you are to be able to have the kids over to swim and what a great kid they have, but your laundry is getting a bit out of control, and would they mind sending little Susie with a towel? (Or, would they mind helping out with lunch every so often, if that's the case). Just be friendly and ask for some help.

 

[beavismom]

LOL. I just realized how weird it is that the towels are what bother me because we do provide all the other stuff too. I guess I feel like I should provide snacks and drinks and stuff. I wouldn't expect them to bring a sack lunch with them, but a towel is pretty easy especially if they know they are going to swim.

I don't mind the snacks and food so much although $5 gallon milk is getting painful. I try to make sure I have Kool-Aid or something else around to ease the pain and if they are here for lunch then it is frozen pizza or spaghettios or something. I will instruct the kids to ask guests to bring towels if they are bringing swimsuits and that should at least ease things a little.

 

[kribit]

People actually let their kids go to someone elses pool without a towel? We always bring towels with us when we go to someone elses house. It's the same thing as going to the beach in my eyes.

 

[snowy76]

They bring their own suits, right? They can bring their own towels too. Just ask them. The kids probably don't even think about it.

Don't be so sure about that!

My stepdaughter has come home in other kids' suits before... the woman her mom takes her to for before/afterschool care has a bunch of extras hanging around so if a kid forgets one they can wear it and still use her pool. It grosses me out - I don't care if it's clean, it's like wearing someone else's underwear! DD does not get it because it's so natural for her mom and mom's friend to just say okay and let her do it. It's soooooo hard to bite my tongue.

 

[Youarehere]

We never had a problem. My mom just left all the pool towels on the pool deck. First come, first serve. If we ran out, we shared. We always laid them out if we were going back in so they would dry in the sun while we swam. They even stayed out in the rain. Once a week she brought them in and washed them, then they made their way back to the pool deck a few at a time as we needed them. Are kids these days really that picky? I mean, this is not a bath towel.

 

[disneymom3]

I would never think of sending my kids to swim without taking a towel. Once or twice last summer my DS 8 did come home from the neighbors then go back and forgot his towel and they gave him one but that was it and I even washed it the time he came home with theirs.

I think it is rude to send your child to swim without a towel, and you really shouldn't have to ask them it should be common sense.

I am with this one! I would never even imagine sending my kids to swim without also having them bring a towel. Heck my older sister had a pool at her house when I was little and I always always brought my own towel. And that was for my sister's house!