Going to the pool as an adult is a completely different type of experience than it was when I was a kid. When you're a kid, you are essentially an indestructible machine. You can eat all day, stay up all night, hyper ball of energy. So the pool is a perfect outlet for a kid. If you ever want your kid to get to bed at an early hour, just take them to the pool. By the end of the day, they'll be so exhausted, they'll probably fall asleep on the way home. For you parents out there, just remember that it is part of the genetic make-up of a kid that they HAVE to play hard at the pool. I've never seen a kid "slack off" at a pool. Not once. They go all, or they don't go to the pool. That's the story.

But when you get to become an adult, and you have a job and bills and such, you learn to appreciate the pool for different reasons. Where the pool was at one time a place to work off Lik-em-Ades, the pool is now a place to go to when you want to just feel the cool water carry your around. The kids around you in the pool burning off that energy, get to be a nuissance when you're an adult.

As a kid, you didn't mind the adults because you're too busy being in your own little world. But when you're an adult, the kids become tiresome in their behavior. At one time, not only would I have not minded being splashed, but I would have splashed you back. At one time, I would have gone with you as you look for your water toys that sink to the bottom. Now, my goal is to toss them as far as possible, so that I have a few extra seconds of quiet time. Whereas before, I would gladly open my eyes underwater, the insecurities about health that older ages bring, make me think twice about letting Chlorined water into my eyes. Whereas before, I wouldn't mind showing you the ins and outs of diving either off the side or off the diving board, but now fears of belly flops come to mind. Before, I'd run right off that diving board. Now, I gotta make sure that the diving board is secure before I leap off it. These bones and tissue that cover my body don't heal as fast as they used to.

But most importantly, the difference between being an adult and a kid is most noticeable in...

BREAKTIME

Even lifeguards need a break, so about 10 minutes every hour, they blow that whistle and all kids must vacate. I remember being really put out, with the lifeguard put out. But now, as an adult, I welcome the chance to swim at my own leisure while the kids go fill back up on Sunkist soda.

And of course, sunburns when you're 25 are not nearly as cool as they were when you were 12. I've had more than my share of bad sunburns thank you very much. I've smelled the sweet aroma of Aloe-Vera one too many times.

But I also see the pool now as a place of exercise. What better place to burn calories than the pool? It's cool and it's always refreshing. If the twelve year old me could read this, I'd probably get run out of town. I guess it just comes with getting older.