Along with not being a dog person, I am also not a beach person. Add that to my cooking aversion and not being a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl and that makes me the least likely person on earth to find a date online. Thank god I’m already married. (I totally lied on J-Date to find him, if you must know.)
My childhood beach-going memories consist mainly of long walks on blisteringly hot sand while awkwardly holding a lounge chair as it bumped against my shins. That and the uncomfortably wet/sandy rides home in summer weekend traffic made me a big fan of the pool.
Note: I do like the beach in certain circumstances. For example, on vacation resorts— where towels and beach chairs are supplied and you do not have to lug them through a parking lot or bring them back with you into your house.
Despite my disdain for the beach, this weekend I agreed that it would be fun to take Mazzy. Seeing her reaction to new experiences always puts things in a different perspective.
After we treked out to our desired spot with chairs, blankets, towels, umbrellas, a sandcastle set fit for a Buckingham Palace redesign and enough food and water to be stranded there indefinitely, we faced Mazzy toward the water and waited to see what happened.
First she stood completely still, staring out to sea as if she were discovering the world’s best-kept secret. Then she began flapping her arms with such glee that I immediately stripped to my bathing suit and ran with her toward the seaweed infested water.
Once at the water’s edge, Mike and I held Mazzy’s hands and stood ankle deep. As each wave hit, we picked her up by the arms like she was jumping over them one by one. After a few minutes, she started screaming— “It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming!!!” as the water approached and a high pitched “woooooo” on each jump. (I asked Mike what she was doing and he said, “Copying you.” Oh. Really?)
Then, as if that wasn’t enough for me to join “Team Beach”, Mazzy turned to me after a particularly rough wave and said “Mommy! FUN!”
My heart melted. She’s never used that word before.
But just as I was about to kneel down and inscribe “I LOVE YOU, BEACH!” in the sand, I realized we had only been there for fifteen minutes. I decided to reserve judgement until the day was over.
Good thing, because immediately after Mazzy finished her salt water dip, she took a roll in the sand. And THEN the breaded chicken cutlet had the nerve to ask me to pick her up.
OH NO.
In the end, the beach experience was not quite as magical as it began. But were the moments of joy worth the effort?
The only way to weigh the complete experience is with a pie chart.
As you can see, I’m at an impasse. I’m hoping you’ll help me out.
Beach—YAY or NAY?
In our case, that monitoring sand ingestion number is WAY higher. Which does affect the stress scale…
But he has such a great time, it’s still pretty worth it.
Oh I want to say nay because I personally LOVE going to the beach, and we’ve been talking about taking Monkey. I just know that he’ll love it.
I also worry though about all that BLOODY SAND. And the inevitable tantrum for when he finds out we don’t actually plan to LIVE there. I mean, the leaving-the-pool tantrums are of epic proportions.
I think I’m the one who needs help here. Yay or nay indeed.
(breaded chicken cutlet made me die laughing, seriously)
Gah I meant I want to say YAY.
It’s hard to relax when you’re worried that they’re not ingesting enough sand. That’s what you meant to say, right?
Hilarious…and the breaded chicken cutlet description is spot on. Ugh, I could just feel a sandy, clingy toddler by reading that! ::skin crawls::
I *am* a beach person, but I am definitely not a beach + toddler person.
I get that the kids like it, but it makes me feel like a sweaty, slick with sunblock sherpa with sand in her ass crack just waiting to twist an ankle while chasing one kid from chasing sharks while the other rummages through nearby beach-goers coolers.
I go sparingly, but take lots of photos to make it look like I am a nicer mom than i actually am.
Still laughing over “breaded chicken cutlet.” I say “yay” to the beach for the simple reason that you have one close enough to go to. I HATE sunscreen application with a passion but if we had a beach anywhere near us it would totally be worth holding down each of my kids and applying sunscreen for a few hours in the sand.
I would only add the stress of forgetting something. Like sunscreen. Or towels.
I LOATHE the beach. But since I have a total count of 5 kids here daily (3 are daycare, so I get to send them home at the end of the day, thank christ) we don’t get many invitations from my friends with pools (are they really my friends, then??) And since I am poor, the beach it is…. 🙁
We love the beach, but it is definitely MUCH easier once the kiddo is a bit older. Out of diapers and able to run around somewhat independently. Mine can finally carry her own bucket full of gear. I’ve also finally figured out how to limit the snacks & drinks that previously never got consumed. Now that my girl will stay on the beach for hours (and not eat the sand), I can lounge under my umbrella and relax. I vote beach! Try again next year?
Ahh, and THAT is why you join a beach club. Personal cabana with a changing area, fridge, shelves to keep all your towels, clothes, food, chairs, umbrella, sandtoys, etc. Cabana boys who you text when you’re on your way to the beach and they’ll open up the cabana for you and even bring your chairs, towels, and toys down to the ocean and set them up. Gigantic pool. Snack bar/grill. Huge bathrooms (if not private ones in your cabana). The only way to survive NYC summers.
SilverPoint, Sun & Surf, Catalina, Atlantic Beach Club, Sands, Malibu….there are a ton. it’s AWESOME! (Although you’ll still have breaded chicken cutlets, for sure. 😉
I’m with you on dogs and the beach. They’re both better in the movies AND of course my daughter loves them both with a ferocious passion. This said, your chart is spot on, but I need to add an extra 100% for the 3 day removal process of sand encrusted upon scalp. Yuck.
Also with you on dogs and the beach. And the jeans. Our first beach trip with our oldest was horrid. We were in Amalfi (yes) because we had to be there for the wedding of my oldest friend…but we had to take a 6-month-old, so it was not a fun trip (dream trip to Italy? Nooope). Anyway, we paid some paunchy guy the equivalent of $20 to let us sit under an umbrella on this overcrowded beach (why people go to Amalfi for the BEACH I will never know…possibly they’ve never seen California) and discovered in a few moments that William had a terror of the water. So we left after ten minutes, $20 poorer. And had a beer in the plaza. We have not taken the boys to a sandy beach since, except in Maine (while wearing boots).
That is exactly how I feel about the beach. We went yesterday with the kids and it being Claire’s first encounter I too was hoping for a new and improved outlook. Well, it sort of happened.
I suppose we will be spending some more time than usual in that dreaded sand this summer, but with lots of smiles to go with it!
I just read your pie chart out to T and he thinks the good time portion should be cut to about 20%. That said, it grows as the child grows. Almost 2-yo S at the beach? Definitely 20% tops – so not worth the trouble. 4-yo L at the beach? More like 65% good times. Totally worth it. And the beach-induced car-nap afterwards is just a cherry on top.
breaded chicken cutlet? perfect visual!! We love the beach,and it’s a good thing b/c it is practically in our backyard! But we love it more during the “off” months!
We’d also have to add “10% panicking from shark sightings” as that happened to us every single day in Hawaii.
My husband’s grandmother has a cottage on the north fork of Long Island — everyone who lives on the street has access to a private beach on the Peconic bay. It’s really nice because it’s the bay, not the ocean, so the waves are very small. Last summer, Rebecca was 6 months, was barely sitting up, was intrigued by sand, tried to eat it a few times, and was generally agreeable. She was OK in the water as long as someone held her, and had hot/cold reactions to being in a baby float.
https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.kaplin/RebeccaFaithJuly2010#5504564831748745762
This year? We took her Memorial Day weekend and she had a BLAST. She loved digging on the sand and walking around with a noodle. I thought she’d melt-down, but she surpassed my expectations. Even got her at the edge of the water (it was too cold for the adults to go in past the waist, so we didn’t really expect her to go in). She’s timid in general about new things, so I was thrilled how well she did!
https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.kaplin/RebeccaFaithFamilyMay2011#5616404092681744802
Chicken Cutlet…. BWAHAHAHA! Love it 🙂 Sand is a necessary evil out there, but it is worth it to see her so happy 🙂
Oh, and I was so paranoid about keeping HER skin covered/protected, I got a nasty sunburn on my back that weekend. Ouch.
We are a beach-loving family. By which I mean the kids and the husband love to go and I try to find a way to love preparing the myriad supplies and changing sandy poo diapers.
But, I go back, nearly every year. Why? It’s that 50% fun, I suppose. And the fact that we go to a resort in South Carolina that has booze at the beach grill a few steps away.
An absolute YAY for us. But taking a toddler is different than when they’re older. It’ll be more fun in a few years, trust me. Plus, the photo ops make up for any sand in your suit.
“Breaded chicken cutlet”, that’s hilarious! We are planning our first beach trip this summer and she’s almost 2. I’m not so against the beach as I am having to put on a bikini. I can’t wait to see her face when we get there. I know she will love it! Oh and just something that I thought through, at first I thought a bikini on a toddler was ridiculous, but then I thought about the agony of getting a wet one-piece off for a diaper change…needless to say, I went with the toddler bikini!
My kids are super-fair, and my biggest stress (other than the sand in the diaper regions) is that they get burned within fifteen minutes. Still, we’ll be going this summer, especially up in Maine. I prefer it when it’s not an hour away and one or both of us can run back to base to get whatever we forgot. Never happens that way though.
when i took my then 2.5 yearold to the beach for the first time she was already pottytrained AND i let her pee in the water! trust me once they are potty trained it is easier and a little more fun! we havent had a chance to go back but she still at 5.5 talks about it! She told everyone she peed in the water so thrilled was she…I figure fish do it why cant she when they do not supply pottys.
I grew up amongst some of the best beaches in the world… but I still prefer the pool. It’s the sand. Sand ruins everything, and I hate it. Throw toddlers into the equation, and it’s my idea of hell.
I like being at the beach, as long as I’m not actually ON the beach. A cafe across the road will do rather nicely.
those nyc beach clubs sound perfect, new yorkers always do things right don’t they?
i’m about to take my kids to the beach for almost a month, most of it on my own. i’m sure i’ll have some more thoughts about the pie chart afterwards, but i am hoping the trip is more yay than nay.
Oh girl, I just blogged about this. At least you didn’t drive 18 hours only to have your toddler completely freak out every time her toe touched sand.
Our family vacation is a week at the beach. I grew up going to the beach every summer and our entire family loves it. Our son who is five, is just now liking going in the water. One year all he did was sit and play in the sand. Our 2 year old is our water baby and will run into the water without a care in the world no matter how rough it is. I cannot stand the sand either, which is why we rent a place with an outside shower. They get all nice and clean outside. Another plus, that you did not mention, is the sound sleep they get every night after all that exercise and fresh air. A solid night sleep is a definite plus in my book.
I am with you—much prefer pool over beach. It’s a sand thing–as in, I feel sand everywhere days after I am far from the beach!
But seeing the sheer joy on my son’s face when he is in the waves or digging in the sand or, best yet, burying parts of me in the sand—well, there is just nothing that compares.
So I’ll take the sand and being a pack mule–the shrieks and smiles are worth it!
Okay – the pie chart is hilarious and I want to leave some witty comment but feel compelled instead to leave you a little PSA (in case you haven’t heard):
BABY POWDER!
It’s a miracle at the beach. For some reason, you pour it on the breaded chicken cutlet, rub gently, and all the sand falls from the skin leaving it (and your hands) soft and silky.
I’m not kidding. It’s magic.
We used so much Johnson & Johnson during our summers when the kids were little we should’ve bought stock.
I live 20 minutes from the beach (for my whole life) so I say YAY!
And buy baby powder.
That is all.
I grew up in Upstate and Western NY so the beach was a foreign concept to me. Now that I live near Portland, OR and married to a guy that loves the beach I have discovered all of its wonderfulness.
Here are my top 3 tips:
1. put sunscreen on before you leave the house/hotel/rental. Yes you will need to reapply it later, but for us one application made it till nap time so we were back at the rental when I needed to reapply it.
2. Swim diapers- no 500 lb diaper to change. 🙂 Personally I like the reusable kind, but the disposables work fine too. You are still dealing with lots of sand, but just hose the kid down before you get into the car.
3. Jogging stroller- this was a great way to transport all of the “stuff” across the beach. It isn’t that easy to push, but it is better than a traditional stroller or trying to carry it all.
All this being said, if I had access (and the money to pay for it) I would totally take advantage of the cabana!
A piece of my pie would also include some sort of measure of my anxiety level after the baby and I sat down peacefully in the shallow water just in time for a sting ray to swim RIGHT up to us. Holy. Shit.
I hate the beach and jeans. It’s like we are twinsies.
Sounds about right! But, after doing it a few times, some of these things can be mitigated. We now apply sunscreen BEFORE we leave for the beach, at home where there is no sand and the kids are not impatient to get in the water. 500 lb diaper can be replaced with a swim diaper and ingestion of sand goes away as they get older. Now that they are 2 and 4 I make them each walk themselves down to the beach AND carry their own toys. We’ve also gotten better at bringing just the essentials and not the entire house. Unfortunately we still experience the “leaving the beach” tantrum but that happens anytime we do something fun. Leaving is hard.
My problem with the beach is that I have two pre-schoolers. One loves the water, the other loves to play in the sand. So my husband and I have to take turns playing with each kid. It’s not exactly a great ‘family day’ for us, since only two of us are ever together at the same time. Then there’s the wet, sandy, freezing (because my husband loves to blast the a/c) whiny, tired, 2 hour drive back home. Aside from that, I do like the beach.
I am “lucky” enough to live five minutes from the beach. That lucky would be genuine pre-kid. Post-kid, not so much. My husband and I take our kid to the beach multiple times a week. I must be a glutton for punishment.
Here are some highlights:
Show up at the beach and immediately see a shark 15 feet from shore. Toddler makes a mad dash for the water because she thinks she’s Nemo reincarnated. Wrangle toddler for another hour. She runs, repeatedly, into the water with a blatant disregard to the fact that the water is deeper than she is tall.
Finally get her back to our beach blanket & towels. Of all the available towels, she finds the need to stomp (and release all the sand attached to her body) all over MY towel. Husband decides to go for a swim, leaving me with a hungry, sandy, hot toddler with a dirty diaper. For. an. hour. I declare beach time over.
Spend another 30 minutes stripping down and hosing off the kid who suddenly screams bloody murder at the sight of fresh water. Husband watches all of this from the car. Finally get the mostly-naked child into her car seat. Half of the sand that was on the beach when we got there is now in the car with us.
Husband asks, “Didn’t we have such a great time?”
Hell no. Never again.
Anna: WHAT NYC beach clubs???? Have I missed something all these years?
I loathe going to the beach as well. Good thing we don’t have one close by. My husband grew up in Virginia Beach and of course he loves it and can’t wait to take our kids there some day. I will be chilling at the hotel pool while he takes the kids to the beach. And yes, I really am that awesome of a mom.
I love the beach! Although it’s best to go with other family members so that you can watch your kid frolic with them from the comfort of your chair. One tip – two piece bathing suits make diaper changes much easier.
i’d have to say NAY. when my breaded chicken cutlet was about 1 yr and a half, I decided to have the first beach experience. besides the long walk over the hot sand and the stuff hitting my legs and the sore calves for a week later, and the seaweed infested water, I used to love the beach so I couldn’t wait to be that family with the adorable baby in the adorable bathing suit playing at the beach. Well, I had the adorable baby in the adorable bathing suit, but that was it. She hated it, hated the waves and hated the sand. Made my husband take an umbrella to have shade for her and it didn’t work. he was grumpy because the waves weren’t big enough (he bodyboards) and I got stung by a bee rolling in the sand and seaweed infested water. Never went back with her. She’s now 5.
ok, gotta say that the booze would definitely increase the fun factor!!!! hahaha!
I say Yay. Because that happiness you see in their face outweights all the other crap. 🙂
Yay beach! Nay beach-with-a-toddler. If I can’t read my US Weekly on the beach, I don’t see the point. And it’s hard to read US Weekly while trying to prevent sunburn, sand-butt, drowning, shell-in-foot, overheating, and toddler-noise-level-induced-rage-of-bystanders. That being said, we’ll be spending a week in the Cape with Mango and our friends who have twin toddlers this summer. Yay! (sob)
HILARIOUS AND SO TRUE!!!!
If there was a way to leave every grain of sand behind when leaving the beach, I would appreciate it a whole lot more.
I love, love, love going to the beach. LOVE IT. I know there are so many things annoying about going, but once I’m in the water, it just feels right. I love swimming. I can’t wait to take T to Lake Tahoe this summer & see if he’ll join me in the ice cold waters.
You forgot to add percentages for fear of encountering the following things lurking in the water: (1) stinging things (syringes, jellyfish, glass); (2) slimy things (seaweed, dead fish, condoms); (3) smelly things (garbage, pee, poop). Or is that only Long Island water?
OMG, you did NOT just call your child a breaded chicken cutlet! ::Dies::
I’m with you – I looooove the beach. As long as I’m at a resort where towels and chairs are provided and my fully appointed condo is a short walk/elevator ride away. What? My parents own three Marriott timeshares – I admit, I’m spoiled.
Plus, I grew up vacationing at an oceanside cottage in the Outer Banks where towels and chairs were BYO, but the beach was still a short walk away. The “short walk away” is key. Because the packing, diaper changes, and uncomfortably wet, gritty car ride home aren’t so much fun.
We go, alot. But, it is a total pain. The last time we went, we were calculating how many years til Hubs and I could sit on our butts while the boys played instead of us having to chase them around. I think we came up with 4-5 years.
I LOVE Your charts!!! BEACH YAY!!! I think its worth it – mostly because it’s exhausting – and the kids will go to bed early and I can start drinking wine…
Love me a beach with a lawn close by!
And as for those making out on the beach scenes … sand and sex, not a match – evah!
Now a gorgeous pool, swim in bar, towels at the ready, wait staff and a view of the ocean – yeah baby!
Loving the pie chart! How do you do it?
I do not like the beach during the heat of the day. Why even go, you ask? Going in the evening around sunset you can walk, not wear a bathing suit and get kind of wet and sandy, not completely dipped in it. Much better system. The kids can deal because we take them to the pool during the day! Win/win.
You forgot 1% vacuuming sand out of the car, which JUST tips the scales in the nay direction, in my view.
This was SO awesome. And so bang on. This is also why every resort we go to have has to have a really awesome pool overlooking the ocean. We have way more fun in the pool. I remember summers in Greece as a child, and long sticky hot car rides back to my grandmother’s apartment in a wet bathing suit covered in sea salt and sand. BLAH. Good times.
Mazzy also likes the taste of salt water. Which is probably even worse.
We had a “leaving the pool” tantrum the day after the “leaving the beach” tantrum that was far worse.
Added to that, the fact that Mazzy can see the pool from the sliding glass door of my mom’s condo means we get 6am “must get into the pool immediately” tantrums too.
I’m imagining the breaded cutlet raw before you stick it in the frying pan. I hope everyone else is too.
They should offer shark-chasing as a class at the “Y”. Sounds like good clean fun!
I say this as I wipe a clump of sand/sunbloc out of my ass crack left there from Saturday.
Once your daughter gets a bit older you can adjust the diaper slice of the pie to either:
– 10% looking for discrete place to let your kid pop a squat behind a bush to pee
or
– 10% staring in horror at disgusting bathroom that you’ve just walked 10 minutes to find, only to be faced with squalor not fit for man or beast
I have been known to stay indoors to avoid sunscreen application. I don’t know who likes it less— Mazzy or me.
My husband never forgets things. One of his superpowers.
In NYC, unless you’re friends with The Trumps or (insert name of NYC high society family here) you will not have friends with a pool either. We have to trek two hours out to get anywhere near a body of swimmable water.
Lounging sounds FANTASTIC. How old do your kids have to be before they can carry your gear too?
I could totally get into this beach club/cabana idea. Although, I’m pretty sure I can already hear my husband laughing at me from across town.
Can you imagine bringing your kids AND a dog to the beach? I think that might be my version of HELL.
This is exactly why we are going to Italy in September sans baby. We’re going for a wedding in Tuscany. Which is landlocked so it’s all coming together very nicely.
Our next trip to the beach will probably cut that 50% in half. I attribute the large percentage to it being her first time going in the ocean. Once the novelty wears off, it’s all downhill.
I went on a family vacation in Hawaii when I was younger and refused to get in the water. Death isn’t worth it!
Yay. But you need something to hode them off with before you let them in the house!
ROFL…I soooo, can relate to the beach pie chart. Also lying about crap on a dating website. U R too funny. I am a dog person, NOT a beach person. Though I do like to sit under a shade tree and read by it. Better yet, on the 10th Floor of a Condo looking down on it while sipping a glass of Pinot Noir and people watching. Great post. UR darling is a “dahling”. Come play in my bloggers sandbox promise I won’t bury you in the sand 😉
I say yay mostly because there should be a segment of the pie dedicated to the number going to the beach does on children. They are so tired you usually have a quiet ride home or maybe even an early bedtime. Totally worth it!
Funny! I used to be a beach lover. Not a tanner, but a splash in the water, walk around eating watermelon, playing beach lover. Even knowing that our local beach on the East Coast had their sewage dumped into the ocean a few street above where we would swim. And all the drunks walking around the boardwalks and getting into a fight with my husband because they would trip over baby’s stroller. Yeah, fun times.
Then, we moved away from there to the Midwest and Michigan Lake. Now, the beach consists of no salty air smell, a knowledge that the riptide here is stronger, potentially some freak species of shark has made it’s way up the Mississippi into said Lake, Chicago dumps it’s raw untreated sewage into the rivers that run into said Lake, a town near me has asbestos run off going into the Lake, the water is much colder, there is no boardwalk, and well, you get the idea.
Oh, and there are fossils every 4th rock you turn over, the beach is closer to my house, and there are trails all over the place around the beach and forests.
So, yeah, I’m at an impasse too.
I love the North Fork and the bay sounds like a good idea. We’re in the Hamptons so we’re dealing with the full blown ocean. And the waves are HUGE.
I’m totally paranoid about keeping Mazzy covered in sunscreen. Mike and I are constantly questioning each other about how well the other did the application.
You must really love the beach! This is the unsnarkiest comment I have ever read from you regarding your kids.
I thought the toddler bikinis were ridiculous but after last weekend, we switched to a two piece this weekend and it was much easier. Lesson learned!
One thing that sucks about traveling far to the beach is that you feel like you must stay there for a longer period of time in order to justify the travel. In my opinion, the beach is best appreciated in two hour increments.
I knew there was another reason I avoid going into the ocean.
A month after this post, we went on our own beach vacation. I quickly thought back to your post when we were there. Why did I choose a beach vacation???? (FYI, I made a shout out to this post in my own about our vacation. The pie chart alone is seriously brilliant.)
Apparently, I had not yet discovered you last year, so I am happy you linked back to this…it is hilarious. Also, I met my husband on jdate too!
The Leaving Beach Tantrum percentage is a lil higher for us. And theres another category…throwing unwanted snacks in the sand and screaming that the seagulls are attacking her. Got to love 3 yr olds.
We are a beach family. Once our children are over the age of 3. No little swimmers, no diapers, no eating sand. We stay ALL day. And we are covered in sand, and sunscreen. I’ve never had a sunburn on the beach and I’m a terrible sunscreen person. I just used the spray stuff and grab them and chase after them spraying and spraying until they are covered and the 10 people around us are, too. Pringles, pb&j sandwiches, Juicy-Juice mini boxes and we are set! It gets better, at 7, 7 and 5, I’d live at the beach.
Do not go to the beach with a recently potty trained toddler unless there are bathrooms at your beach or your child is willing to pee in the water! Mine is not. Therefore 10 minutes after hauling everyone 4 blocks to the beach with all of our junk to entertain ourselves for hours on the beach, my girl has to go (nevermind the fact that she JUST went before we left the house!). I haul her the 4 blocks back home sans “stuff” and she does not want to go back to the beach. On the plus side, we don’t have to carry the stuff back. Was it worth it? I’m gonna say NO!
No. It’s not even illegal to following the beach put your dog in a cage in the “trunk” (SUV type not a real trunk) and spray her with a hose when you get home then leave her out in the yard to dry.
I think all of those things would be child abuse….I’ll take my dog over my kid any day.
The beach requires the same preparation it takes to take over a Third World Country. We used to live 20 minutes from the beach, and had it down to a science. Beach buggies are a necessity for the picnic lunch and all the towels, blankets, umbrellas. Kids can bring as many toys as they themselves can carry, or it gets left behind (no exceptions). Baby powder really helps in sand removal, and extra clothes help with the after-beach discomfort of the ride home. No tantrums when we leave, because we stop for ICE CREAM on the way home, and Mommy gets to look like a rock star. Yes, wet and sandy chicken cutlets need more hugs than clean children do, and your car will look like it went to Afghanistan afterwards, but if you plan right, invite other Mom friends with kids similar ages, and plan on eating lunch there, it’s a great day, and one you’ll all remember forever.
Beach is a ‘nay’ here due to the fact that my child is very social. I have to chase him ALL over the beach to keep him from tromping over someone’s blanket with the dreaded breaded cutlet feet…
I have to say yay to the beach, if only because my late mother loved the beach with a passion, and whenever I take my daughter to the beach, I feel like i’m actually doing something my mom would do (for once) which is nice. Plus my daughter loves it, and my sister lives in Santa Barbara (CA) so we can stay with her for free, rather than do a 2-hour drive home to Bakersfield (CA). I’ve taken my daughter at least twice a year since she was one year old; she’s five now, and she still gets really sandy, but she is potty trained now (finally), and I don’t recall her ever eating sand; I guess I got lucky on that one. We keep gear to a minimum by only bringing a beach blanket and one bag (no chairs). I stuff as much as possible into that one bag. I often forget to bring toys; my daughter seems content to just play in the water without any toys. And I have swum in the ocean in California and in Hawaii and have never worried about sharks, jellyfish, or sting rays. Maybe there are more of those on the east coast?
[…] is coming which means my favorite question is up for debate once again: Is the beach worth it? A few years ago, I wrote about Mazzy’s first time at the beach which was 50% a good time and […]
We live very near the beach, making it an easy trip. All the sand is great. They can run, fall, roll. Without getting hurt. I usually limit the trips to a couple of hours, I pack a couple of snacks and a couple of waters and juice boxes in a small soft pack cooler. A beach bag with sunscreen, towels, a couple diapers, wipes, a flat bed sheet to sit on ( it’s light and packs well) my l.o. carries her own sand bucket with a few toys of her choice. She packs the bucket herself.
B big bottle of talc is great for getting the sand off with minimum fuss and discomfort. :o)
Thanks for the pie chart, what a nice presentation. Probably it’s worth it for once or twice a year experience. But why the 500LB diaper? why didn’t she use swim diaper?
I can do the beach because we live in Maine and that’s what you do in Maine in the summer. What I cannot do is camp. Dirt and bugs and the outside. Yuck.
[…] For a more amusing take on beach vacations with 100% more pie charts, check out Mommy Shorts’ Is the Beach Worth It? […]
[…] you have to deal with wet kids covered in sand screaming, “HOLD ME!!!!” and countless applications of baby sunscreen that DOES NOT […]