05/04/2026
There is a group of people on Facebook trying to shut down survival swim schools and tear us down personally as instructors.
Their claim is that we are abusing kids & causing them a life time of trauma.
Literally, saying we should be investigated for child abuse.
This picture was taken almost 9 years ago, the day I completed my instructor certification and the day my two youngest kids graduated from survival swim lessons (not taught by me).
So stick with me here!
I became a certified Infant Aquatics instructor AFTER my 3 year old son had a drowning accident.
He was found floating face down in the pool.
CPR never woke him up like it looks on the movies.
Unconscious for 6 hours.
Not knowing if he would eventually wake up with life long brain damage.
Or at times, if he would even wake up at all.
It truly is a miracle that he woke up with no permanent injuries and we thank God everyday for that!
It wasn’t until AFTER a traumatic event happened, that I started looking into survival swim lessons for my kids.
I WAS investigated for child neglect/abuse AFTER my 3 year old had a non fatal drowning.
DURING their lessons.
They both hated it.
They both screamed.
They both said no.
But, they both learned how to self rescue and became safer around water!
A few months before their lessons started, I was pulling my lifeless son out of a pool.
I will take a screaming kid during a controlled & safe swim lesson, EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF MY DAY!
Tynlie was 16 months old. She is now 10.
A couple things she screamed during, that we still made her do when she was a toddler..
Get in a car seat.
Brush her hair.
Take Santa pictures.
Go through survival swim lessons.
To this day, never has she mentioned remembering her swim lessons. Or how traumatized she was.
But instead, she talks about those Santa pictures & how I’d “rip her hair out” brushing her hair! (She’d 100% claim brushing her hair is child abuse, still! 🤣)
Here’s the kicker…
She swims competitively!
On a swim team!
Has won races!!
And has since she was 5 years old!
After Tyson’s accident, my brain kinda forgot anything that was “tramatic” for him.
But I do know he was deathly afraid of fishing.
He loved to fish but as soon as that fish came out of water, game over.
I have pictures of him screaming while fish hanging from the line are next to him.
We stuck through it, entered him in fishing tournaments with his dad and grandma.
Today, it’s his favorite thing to do!
Tyson doesn’t remember being scared of fish.
Or any of the other things we made him do as “mean” parents.
But, he does remember the day he drowned.
He remembers what he was doing when he fell in the pool.
He remembers what it felt like being under water trying to get to the top of the water.
He remembers waking up in a hospital bed.
He is 13 now and still talks about it, openly!
As a mom, the thing I didn’t do, was get him survival swim lessons..
The root cause of the traumatic memory that he has.
We aren’t abusing kids.
We are doing our best to lower the odds of childhood drownings, which is the leading cause of accidental death in children 1-4!
After Tyson’s accident, words from his doctor, Dr. Kevin Wade. “When my boy is ready, get him back into the pool. I don’t want him to have a fear of it!”
We looked at him like he was crazy.
We were planning on how to get rid of the pool. I had already decided we’d never swim again.
So instead, we waited on Tyson telling us he wanted to swim again.. and we did!
Even WITH A TRAUMATIC DROWNING happening when he was younger, he LOVES SWIMMING still!
Will your child scream & hate it? Yes!
Will we love on your child while we have them in the pool? Also yes!
Will we abuse your child? Hell no!
If your child doesn’t like swimming with us.
Don’t give up.
Just like we do everyday strapping them into car seats, brushing their hair, doing Santa & Easter Bunny pictures..
KEEP SWIMMING!
To the people who are claiming we are child abusers.
There are THOUSANDS of parents saying they wished they would have put their child in survival swim lessons BEFORE going through a drowning accident!
As a mom & survial swim instructor..
I know the feeling of both!
I’d never say that I abused Tyson with his accident.
But, I did fail him, not providing him with the slills je needed to know what to do!
