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Jun. 16, 2006
Life Lessons from the Beach...
We're on the homestretch for my Beloved's return! Woooo hooooo! I have to say though, I handled the days better when his return was a long way off than I am now. I'm just so anxious and ready for him to come home! Not that much longer!
So, we've kept ourselves busy and we decided to follow Tuesday, a day of work with a day of play, so off to the beach we went! It was a fantastic day! I was a bit nervous takin' all the kids to the beach by myself, but it was fine. The waters were a bit choppy from this season's first named storm (it had passed the day before), so that was an added "excitement". We had our occasional mishap and being the insufferable "deep thinker" that I can be, I couldn't help but apply them to life truths. Here they are:
1. Within arriving at the beach, your littlest child in less than 5 minutes will find herself in over her head, being tossed by every wave that comes her way.
2. When your littlest is obviously struggling for her life, you do everythin' you can, grab a hold of anythin' you can, to pull her to safety, even if it means grabbin' her by her ankle and pullin' her out of the water upside down.
3. Despite the fear and panic of witnessin' your child getting tossed around, you must remain calm and steady once she's safe and you snuggle her close to you until her tears subside.
4. Rather than learnin' a lesson from his baby sister, your 5yo will think he is tough stuff and can handle the waves.
5. Just like the 3yo, the 5yo will soon be knocked over and tossed around.
6. You have to be willin' to do everythin' possible to pull him out, even though this time it only required a sure hand to grab his and pull him out, smilin' into those big scared eyes as they search your face for reassurance of safety.
7. When there are big waves, and you have little ones with you, it is easiest to keep them safe holdin' them with four hands, yes four. Your two hands clingin' to them and their two hands clingin' to you.
8. Standin' together against big, strong waves is a great thrill.
9. Your children can giggle with delight as waves crash around them that would wipe them out of existence, if they know they can trust Mom to keep them safe.
10. After a time of fun with little mishaps, children will get bold and begin to think they can handle the waves by themselves again.
11. Children will always want to go a little further out than you are comfortable. When the waves are crashin' and dangerous, you cannot give into the "trust your children's instinct" mentality, not when life or death is on the line.
12. Even in the shallow waters, where things appear safe, there will be a couple of rogue waves that reach out to swamp your kids.
13. Your 13yo will have no interest in holding your hand to stay safe, but he will enjoy the opportunity to protect his 5yo brother by holding on with four hands and laughin' at waves together.
14. If your 13yo is protectin' your 5yo, you must still keep a vigilant eye on the pair lest they should both be wiped out and sometimes you need to pull them back a bit.
15. Waves do not come in just one direction and are not most dangerous with their first hit. While the first hit will knock you off your feet, it is the powerful undercurrent that will drag you out to sea and sure death.
16. When you are tryin' to get out of the water, do not look down. The water rushing backwards will make you feel as if you are not going where you want to, but if you keep your eyes fixed on the shore, you will not be fooled and you will be encouraged by your progress.
17. People will watch you with curiosity if you are by yourself with three children at the beach with another obviously on the way.
18. They will continue to watch how you handle your children and see how long your smiles will last.
19. After a very long time of watchin', if you are doing as you ought to, delightin' in your children, firmly disciplinin' when necessary, but bein' quick to jump back to the fun-lovin' Mom once errant attitudes are back in place, the people watchin' will walk up to you and praise your family.
20. While going to the beach can be dangerous, scary and unpredictable, standin' strong together, delightin' in each other as the waves crash all around, will do more to strengthen love and friendships than a "safe" day in the sprinklers at home ever could.
Oh and there is one more:
21. Your teenaged young adult son will ignore the scantily clad bikini'ed bodies runnin' around the beach when he finds bein' a part of your family more interesting than bouncin' body parts.
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Jun. 17, 2006 - For someone who's never been to the beach...
Thanks