We like to think of ourselves as adventurous parents, having undertaken all sorts of things the more risk adverse would not dare to do in the first year of their children’s lives. So it is not easy for us to admit a growing list of activities, to which we now hesitate to the point of inertia before agreeing, and includes baby swimming, playgroups and meeting friends with other children at play cafes. Sad to say, through a process of trial and error, we have discovered that these said activities leave us feeling all worn out for a very small amount of pleasure in return. Put simply, they are more hassle than they are worth. Our most recent of these experiences – our first family trip to the local swimming pool – perhaps shows why.

An expedition only possible because we had a friend staying for the weekend, we thought, rashly, that the adult to baby ratio (3:2) would be sufficient to make the whole trip a breeze. We had decided to take a taxi. Parking nearby would be too difficult and we did not want to take the pram nor carry the babies a long distance in the cold. A very big taxi: swimming gear for five certainly mounts up. So there we were in our very big taxi with our two babies, two baby car seats, three bags of swimming gear and three adults and now needed to get into the pool. It turns out swimming pool buildings are much warmer than it is outside at the moment. We did not have much fun carting our loot from the taxi into the changing rooms in our winter coats, nor did we have much fun realising we would have to try and store the two baby car seats in the swimming lockers whilst putting the babies somewhere else, they in their winter coats (snowsuits). But at some point we took off our coats and came up with the cunning plan to take the babies in the car seats to the edge of the pool. We also discovered the changing tables round the corner and managed to unpeel rosy cheeked babies down to swimming nappies, carefully pulled on before we set off from home. That was when the adventure blossomed into its brief moment of pleasure. Warm water, bright faces, glittering eyes, big splashes and raucous laughter – everything you expect from a happy first swimming trip. Oh, we did enjoy those full fifteen minutes. Then it was back off to the overheated changing rooms, back to balancing babies precariously on changing tables whilst attempting to get changed ourselves, the nasty surprise that we had got the car seats all wet in the process, carrying everything outside again, and waiting for another very big taxi. You might say, for want of better taste, an interactive map short of a military operation.

We could strive to refine our approach. A few tweaks (such as walking there with the pram, or wearing easier clothes ourselves) and an additional adult and I think we could have the whole affair down to something manageable. Same with playgroups and play cafes. We could, and we would be back in the adventurous parent gang. Call me a spoil sport, but anything that involves removing and pulling back on two snow suits, when it is not in our own home, is just not worth it to me for the next month. Roll on spring, say the babies.