Paddling pools

[ailbhe]

I keep reading about people using paddling pools to cool down in the heat of the day. But it's too hot and sunny here! Linnea and I both get a runny tummy if we're out in the blazing, bright, painful sun for too long. Do other people just have shady spots for paddling pools? Or less sensitivity to relentless pounding sunshine beating down on them? Or some sort of magic hats? Because we have hats and sunscreen, and they help, but round about noon (which is 1 pm here) for, say, at least two hours either side, it's just too damn sunny for that.

I'm jealous, because I'd love to spend the hottest part of the day in the paddling pool, but we just plain can't. It was 5 pm today before it dulled down enough for me to go out without getting dizzy.

Perhaps I need to buy a beach sunshade type tent... but I suspect it wouldn't be enough. It's worse than usual this summer, because I am also pregnant.

So we stay indoors, eating ice lollies and reading books and, when she gets too fractious, watching TV. She watched almost an hour today, then had lunch, and after lunch she played in her room (no idea how, it was far too hot for me up there) very happily for almost two hours.

I sat around meeeeeeelting like the wicked witch of the west.

Comments

[ai731.livejournal.com]

Do you not still have the canopy you got for CCDE years back? IIRC it would shade a good part of the garden.

[ailbhe]

It would if we could Linnea-proof it. It can't be erected safely enough for a toddler, only for responsible adults :( When we had it in the garden before, it was pretty wobbly, and it wouldn't withstand much in the way of being-run-into or climbed, even if it was only little Is, let alone the monster child.

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

Sun umbrella! (http://www.beachstore.com/detail.aspx?ID=986)

[ailbhe]

I should investigate those. One of those falling over on top of us when L ran into it wouldn't be as damaging as the gazebo thing we have. Definite possibility. (Her first summer, I was able to use a little sunflower umbrella, but she's bigger now and it's a lot hotter).

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

We had one with a nice solid base that even our gigantic boxer dog couldn't knock over. The base was filled with sand.

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

We didn't set up the pool til 3.30 pm & I shaded it under some of the washing :) We slept over lunchtime, that was a relief :)

[random-c.livejournal.com]

We tied an old sheet between the fence, the washing line and an old hook on the house which presumably held a previous washing line.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I was wondering about an umbrella too.

The summer I was in Sussex, we bought a paddling pool, for the toddler who was accompanying one of the staff members, but mostly she wanted to play in the grass while we sat around paddling our feet in the pool.

[clare-s.livejournal.com]

No heat of the day thing here. By the time we were setup it was about 3pm and we also put it up under the gazebo in total shade. I could not have managed to sit in the full sun in it despite my best efforts.

[arky72.livejournal.com]

We have an enormous umbrella which does into a metal base which is pegged into the grass (sorry, not sure what sort of garden you have) which provides enough shade for the paddling pool and a couple of chairs. Jonnie will quite happily spend a good hour in the pool like this, and we just move it around as the shade moves.

Hope you manage to work something out so you can both feel cooler - this heat is not nice.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

ghods, no. Must Have Shade. like somebody above me, when i was a kid we tied up old sheets to shade us in the backyard. right now i go down to the river after 5, there's shade enough then. before that i just melt in the house, with a fan pointed at me, and a spray bottle of water. i'd love to have a little pool in the backyard, just to lie in when it gets this hot. i should investigate the cost.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

Umbrella!!

I use the one that came with his water/sand table. Stuck into a plastic crate (water bottle container), it stands up by itself. Indispensable. Shocking how little it takes. But, yeah, you gotta have something.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Most of our back courtyard is shaded, because it's surrounded by other houses and has a very tall magnolia tree.

[ailbhe]

I am so jealous! We have shade in the very very early mornings and the late afternoon/evenings. Never, ever in the hottest parts of the day.

Still, at least it's down to 26C in the coolest room in the house now, at midnight...

We need to borrow money for a portable aircon unit, I think.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

The bad thing about having a very shady yard is that we have to deal with mosquitoes, even in the daytime.

[k425.livejournal.com]

We're lucky that we can put the paddling pool in the lee of the terrace wall so it's shaded, but in addition we don't go out in the midday sun. Jack gets his nap straight after lunch and I leave him to sleep as long as possible, then we do slow waking-up stuff for a bit and then go out into the garden.

I'd investigate a garden umbrella with a weighted bottom, if possible. Or a whirly clothes dryer with a sheet over the top!