A mother has shared the interesting way she celebrates the start of summer.
Neely Gracey recently took to Instagram to share a clip of all her kids and husband at the local pool, with text on the screen that read, “Happy 'pool counts as a swim' season to everyone celebrating.” She further emphasized her point in her caption, which read, “Please tell me I'm not the only mom celebrating.”
The statement caused a huge divide in the comments, with some viewers admitting that they agreed with her opinion about swimming counting as a swim, while others expressed their displeasure at the admission.
“I'm over counting pools as a bathing season (in fact, my kids shower more at sleepaway camp than at home!),” reads one comment in support of Gracey's post.
“Hell yeah,” another commenter agreed.
Other commenters were completely against the idea, with some claiming that being in a pool actually warranted an extra swim.
“I never want to shower harder than after a long day at the pool or beach,” one commenter explained.
“Noooo man. Pool day means it's DEFINITELY a chubby night for my kids. “How disgusting, chemicals, sunscreen, sweat, pee, salt, etc,” another person noted.
“This could be worse than people who only bathe their kids once a week,” a third comment read.
Gracey later revealed in an interview with Today that starting a debate was not his intention when he made the post. “In no way did I post this to create the level of controversy that it apparently did,” he told the outlet. “The main reason behind this was that I knew that all over the country everyone's pools were opening.”
“Every parent knows the epic battles that arise when trying to get their children in the bathroom and then try to get them out outside from the bathroom,” the mother explained. “They are two separate battles each time. She just wanted to give parents permission to have fun with their kids this summer.”
She also wanted people to know that she personally doesn't celebrate “pool as a bath” season, noting, “Of course I still bathe my kids.”
“Honestly, it's really funny that people took it so seriously. He had no idea this was going to turn into what it did.”
Gracey is not the first parent to spark a debate over children's bathroom habits. In 2021, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis revealed in Dax Shepard's Armchair expert podcast that they only bathe their children when “you can see the dirt on them.”
“When I was a kid I didn't have hot water, so I didn't shower much anyway,” Kunis said. “But when I had children, I didn't wash them every day either. “I was never that father who bathed my newborns.”
“Here's the thing,” Kutcher chimed in during the podcast. “If you can see dirt on them, clean them. Otherwise, it is meaningless.”
Kutcher noted that he uses soap and water on “armpits and crotches daily,” but “never again.” “I tend to splash a little water on my face after working out to wash away all the salts,” she added.
