Another Mother of the Year Moment

{Ironically most of my friends seem to be beach lovers. Please don’t take offense to what I’m about to share – I hate the beach, not you.}

I hate the beach. Ever since Oceanology class in 10th grade, I’ve despised going in the ocean. My daughter has gotten her love for the beach and the ocean from her Grandma (my mother-in-law). My mil has a trailer down at the beach that she constantly visits and takes Doodle with her. I love that they go and I love that they go without me.

Friday, the 4th grade went on a beach trip. We had to get up and be at the school at 4:30 am. Ya’ll, I don’t usually get up until 8:00 am most days, so this was a stretch. I had planned on keeping Doodle down at my mil’s trailer for the night so we wouldn’t have to go down and back in a day. I tried to pack the night before and then get stuff together that morning.

We got a checklist from the teacher. Evidently I thought I could remember everything. I did not. I forgot some key things despite Duck picking on me for loading down the bag with “stuff.” The kids rode a boat over to an island and did a lot of walking on the sand trails. We even saw some wild horses. It was neat, but tiring. At the end, they get to go into the water (the sound side – not the ocean) and take nets to see what they could catch.

I knew she needed old tennis shoes to wear in the water. I brought those. What I neglected to pack was her new tennis shoes. I had flip flops for her since we were only going for a day to the beach. I thought that was good enough. However, when we decided to grab dinner and go to a movie, her feet got cold wearing her pants and flops. I was also supposed to pack a change of clothes for her, which I had — but I couldn’t find the second pair of shorts. She got her shorts soaked by the way. So she got to lay around in wet shorts for quite awhile.

Once we finished with the field trip, we “felt” our way out of the city and headed for the trailer. Along the way I was thinking what else I’d need to get from the store. I remembered I forgot sunscreen as well. Oh, and I didn’t bring any water for the trip over the island — though I finally got some from the boat’s snack bar.

As I was unpacking our stuff at the trailer, I also realized I forgot to grab her pajamas and I had brought a white tshirt for me to wear without the proper a undergarment (I leave it at that). We went out to the ocean for a little bit after I had a nap. Have I mentioned I hate going in the ocean? Well, Doodle loves going to go boogie boarding. So I braved the ickies and went out to about my knees — or so I thought. The waves started hitting me in the back. Oh and also the water was cccoold — at least to start with.

I was fighting to keep my balance when something black kicked up a bunch of sand and bounced between my legs. My trainer would be proud the way I high-kneed myself out of the water. All in all I think she had fun. Not that we’ll ever do this again. Any beach trips come up again for Doodle and I’m shipping her Grandma with her. I’m headed for the mountains!