damn hot...too damn hot...Lacking air conditioning, on Tuesday the boys and I set out for Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts. According to the state beach website, Nantasket is located 45 minutes south of Boston (although I defy anyone to make it to Nantasket from Boston in anything less than an hour and a half) and is very much an urban beach.
At Nantasket you can hear Spanish, French Creole, Russian, Irish brogues, Vietnamese, Chinese, and any number of other languages along with the distinctive Bahhhhston accent. Its a place where soccer moms from affluent Boston suburbs settle down in their beach chairs next to single moms from Dorchester and Roxbury. Believe me when I tell you that there are few other places on earth where this would happen.
So the boys and I found our place at the beach and had a great time. We went for a walk, we swam, and I read for a while as my oldest son did his best to drown his younger brother...just because I went to the beach with two kids in no way means that I need to return from the beach with two kids.
On the way home, Aidan, age 10, shared with us some of his observations;
- I was the only man under 50 on the beach without a tattoo
- Speedos should be outlawed...especially white speedos (he learned that bananas and grapes belong in a grocery bag...not a swim suit).
- That he wants to go back to the beach earlier in the day because he can't throw rocks into the water at a crowded beach.
- That there are times when he really, really, really hates his older brother.
- Sunblock is always a good idea and, looking at his scarlet skinned brother, that he was glad he wore some.
Oliver learns from his mistakes...Aidan learns from his brother's mistakes.
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I guess I'm a control freak. I put block on my kids before we leave and every 45 min. My poor kids. You let them learn on their own, I over mother.
ReplyDelete...and Tom, the word verification crap has to go. I'm 47, tired, wear two types of eyeglasses. This is not a government blog is it?
My kids are still young and I like to think I have total control over them, though most who've seen me out and about with them will argue I think. When it comes to safety and sunscreen... I always win. Yes, because I care for them, but also because I have an ex-husband who will accuse me of neglecting them if, Heaven forbid, they get a sunburn... but again, they're young. Oliver can learn the hard way! Don't all teen-agers?
ReplyDeleteMore of the question is, did YOU wear sunscreen Tom? And what is WITH all the tatoos? Why do people feel they need to permanently impact their skin? As I age and watch my summer bronze skin start to collect wrinkles, I can't imagine how awful that skin would look with artificial ink squishing along the surface of my body. Isn't aging bad enough, physically? A misshapen tatoo along wrinkled skin seems like it would be a blatant announcement and constant reminder that one is physically deteriorating! Lessons learned...
I never got a tatoo. Not really for the aging skin reason. I never had a graphic design that I felt that strongly about. But also because they're so damn expensive! Same reason I never did drugs.... never had the money for it when I was a teenager. Then when I did have the money for it I had better things to spend my money on.
I have to agree with the DB on the word verification. What's it for anyway?