Thank You Very Much

We went to a small local beach today. There were no more than 20 people on this beach at any time. There was no surf which thrilled Aidan & Sam and oddly turned off Noah from the beach. He got past it and we frolicked in the water for a good long time. When we finally settled back on the blanket, I took in our surroundings in greater detail.

There was a mom with her three kids and a friend of the daughter. The two girls tried to swim out to the dock and it became too much for the daughter who clung to her friend resulting in a rarely-warranted preteen girl scream. The mom and lifeguard couldn’t have been faster. They were in and had pulled the girls back in within minutes. Mental note: take that “Stroke Improvement” class at the Y. Later the friend went out to the dock followed by the brother….oh brother! They sunned on the dock, chatted together after having enjoyed a swim together all while the sister sat with the mom. They were engaged in painful teenage chatter including, “where do you go to school?” “do you switch classes?” “when’s your birthday?” Oh how I wouldn’t go back to those days for *anything*!

Quickly the beach seemed very crowded. Glancing around, it was apparent that it was because of the arrival of the family of 5 parading down the beach. Trying not to be rude and stare, I had to wait until they all went into the water to get a good look at them all. My best estimation was that the girls were 7 and 5 and the boys were 3, 2 and 1. I’d allow for the two younger ones to be twins. I heard the very serene, soft spoken dad of these freakishly well-behaved children say that mom was a work. I think she’s paying him back for not keeping his hands to himself.

Though the woman next to me and I enjoyed a chuckle about how long ago the days seemed when we pranced onto the beach with nothing but a book and a chair, I will very happily take my days just as they are. Thank you very much.