This made going to the beach pool or local lakes pretty much a full-time lifeguard job for me during the years my kids were young and didn't know how to swim we

This made going to the beach pool or local lakes pretty much a full-time lifeguard job for me during the years my kids were young and didn't know how to swim well. I would let them play, run around, go out in the deep water and even get that terrified "I'm over my head!!" look on their face while they flailed their arms around. It's get to let them stop panicking on their own. They learn their limits and I've only had to actually wade out and rescue them a handful of times. But I was basically scanning the water and counting my kids (I have five) every minute the whole time they were in the water. I'm glad they are all strong swimmers now.