Good Parenting - Beach Edition

[nastasie]

I've been going to the beach lately for some exercise, and I keep seeing kids doing the exact same things I used to do when I was their age. And then it occurred to me that I don't really understand why children even like to go to the beach.

Think about it: Unless the ocean is completely waveless, you can't go in the water alone. All you can do is

Comments

[atheneglaukopis]

You have awesome beach parenting. \o/ I, of course, cannot relate to any of this, due to 1) near-drowning trauma at 5 and 2) growing up where it was illegal to go into the water at the beach because you would freeze to death and the Japanese govt was sick of fishing stupid people's hypothermic bodies out. Or sth. :-P I was an ocean virgin until your aquatic mammal self took me into the ocean, and yes, I'm only going into the Mediterranean because you want me to.

I do remember my class took a field trip to the beach once, and I collected eleventy million seashells, and I came home happy because I had no intention of doing anything with them. Two years later, I was also the kid who collected the most bags of leaves, fern, moss, etc. on the hiking trip.

I can't find the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon this reminded me of, but here's a summary for you:

Calvin plays on the beach. He complains that he's getting sand in his suit, and he doesn't want to sit on the beach. In the water, he complains the water is too cold. On the beach again, he complains that there's too much sun, and he'll get sunburned. Dad tries to put tanning lotion on Calvin, but he complains the lotion makes him greasy and the shirt makes him too hot. Under the umbrella, he complains it's boring in the shade. Walking along the beach with Dad, he complains that he hates walking. His legs are tired, the sand is hot, the water's cold, there's no shade, and he still has sand in his suit. Mom and Dad pick up the beach towels and umbrella. Calvin asks if they're going already.

http://reemst.com/calvin_and_hobbes/stripsearch?q=complains&search=normal&start=0&details=1344

[nastasie]

IT'S THE MEDITERRANEAN. YOU MUST. (Plus you get to add one more thing to your map, remember.)

LOL, moss. Geeeeeeeeeeeeek.

Haha, yes, that's kids for ya. Unless you're a crazy angsty kid like I was. :-P

[atheneglaukopis]

YES YES I AM GOING BUTCHOO MUST HOLD MY HAND.

Lol, but they had spent weeeeks teaching us about leaves and how to identify them and moss and lichen and stuffs, and sent us out to gather some. I just gathered MOAR is all. :-P