Swimming beaches have long kept kids from dying of boredom

Swimming at the beach. It’s one of America’s most popular pastimes.


It’s something I grew up doing in one form or another. Quite often, when I was younger, it was from a public boat landing at Witter’s Lake in Waushara County, and when I was older, it was in the crystal clear waters of the White River in Marquette County. Neither of these locations actually had a beach.

I remember many summers days and early evenings begging my parents, especially my mother who had a much more difficult time saying no, to take my sister and me swimming. “It’s so hot. We need to cool off,” I’d beg.

I’d bring out the big guns when they were determined not to fall prey to my begs. “It’s so boring. We never do anything fun.”

Speaking as a parent now, I realize it’s difficult to ignore a challenge from your kid to keep him or her entertained. My 5-year-old son, Braden, constantly wants us to keep him entertained.

“Where are we going today? I want to do something.”

“I’m bored. Let’s go somewhere.”

“Take me to the big park. I want to play.”

“We haven’t been to Wisconsin Dells in so long. Let’s go there.”

“Staying home is so boring.”

Many of these statements have come within minutes after doing a major activity, such as the case this last Tuesday night when Braden was challenging me to do something with him immediately after getting home from an hour-long swim at Pacawa Beach-Park in Plover.

He and I went there because my wife, his mother, was working late, and not wanting to hear his demands for entertainment and because it was so hot out, I thought I’d nip two problems with one cure: Pacawa.

Pacawa is sort of a hidden gem in Portage County, as it has a nice beach and even better water. Every time I’ve been there, only a handful of others are there, too. I’ve been to plenty of lesser beaches and swimming areas that are far more crowded.

Compared to my swimming locations when I was a kid, Pacawa is a bit of a paradise. The sandy bottom is ideal for people squeamish about stepping in muck, as was the case at Witter’s Lake. And its warm, shallow water is much better than the colder and more treacherous waters of the White River.

It has also allowed for me to help Braden begin learning how to swim, at an age much younger than I was when I learned how to swim. He’s figured out how to float both on his back and stomach, and he’s started the basic techniques for doggy paddling. After watching me freestyle swim, he even attempted to try it himself. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t coordinate correct breathing with his arms strokes, resulting in him swallowing a mouth full of lake water. At least the water’s clean, though.

It’s good he’s learning how to swim at a young age. My summers as a youngster were a lot less boring than they could have been had I not known how to swim.

I have a feeling, though, my summers now until he is old enough to drive are going to be booked with plenty of swimming excursions. Unless I don’t mind hearing him challenge us to keep him entertained, much like Kurt Cobain of Nirvana who once sang “Here we are now, entertain us.” I love this song, but it gets repetitive if heard too often. I’d rather go to the beach.