The image above serves as an introduction to our beach season. This weekend we have been to the beach twice: once on Saturday and once on Monday.
Heh, for someone who grew up in a city in Russia, and only has seen the sea once or twice in her life (the Black Sea), I have become quite a beach bum over the past three years.
We do not live or own the house by the beach but in a suburban area of central New Jersey. The beach or, as NJ folks call it, “the shore” is about 50 minutes from us. Since L was three, we have been purchasing a season pass to this one beach area and have been going their 2 or 3 times a week every summer.
My first year I was scared. “How can I bring a three year old and a one year old to the beach? The ocean will swallow them!” Turns out, not true. Yes, I had to keep a close eye on them both, but, thankfully, they are not runners, and they have a healthy sense of danger. That first year, I plopped my behind right at the water’s edge where they’d play. I would not use my phone or read when we were at the beach.
Last year (4.5 and 2.5 year old) – same thing, bought a season pass, and was going with them them regularly to the beach. This year: I am so much more comfortable. They are 5.5 and 3.5 years old. L is only allowed to go into the water ankle deep. R will not go into the water at all. He claims it’s cold- he is right. I wouldn’t go into the water until August.
I feel like the beach has so many benefits for me and the kids. Blue spaces and all. Salt water, fresh air, hot sand, the view of the endless ocean… The kids have more meltdowns at the house than they do at the beach. Heck, I have more meltdowns at the house than I do at the beach.
Benefits for the kids:
- An open space to play
- Building with sand, seaweed, shells and pebbles
- Meeting other kids at the beach and playing with them
- Life skills such as being smart in the water and putting on sunscreen as well as packing and unpacking their gear (toys, mainly) at the end of each day.
Benefits for me:
- Sunning my pasty Russian body (with spf, of course) thus looking better, thus feeling better.
- My brain calming down
- Feeling like a kid myself- making cakes from sand and “feeding” them to the kids
- A sense of wonder that I usually loose during the school year.
Are there things that I do not like? Of course!!!! Sand gets everywhere, all the possible crevices. The car after the beach season looks like a boat in spite of regular cleanings.
The beach has become our “thing”, something that we all love and do together every summer, just the kids and I. T comes along sometimes but he has to work in the summer so no weekdays.
Anyway, we love it, and I plan on doing this until they both tell me “Mom, I’m going down the shore… With my friends.”
Do you have a “thing” you do with your kids? What are your thoughts on beaches with the kids (or alone)?
Mom of Children 