Thoughts on Vacation, Part 2

I didn't really know why I had so many misconceptions about how our vacation was going to go. And as I think through my thoughts and as I write them down, it seems like I'm giving the impression that I didn't have a good time.

This is not the case. I had a wonderful time on vacation.

Now that I have said that, what is it with the sand that is so enjoyable?


I mean, it's dirty, it's gritty, it's clingy, and it reaches down in the farthest of crooks, crevices, and cankles of the human body making it impossibly difficult to thoroughly clean. Yet one of the greatest attractions of the beach is the sand. I can't tell you how many times I've heard it said "Oh, I can't wait to feel the sand between my toes!".

Really? You really like to feel dirty grit between your toes?

I honestly didn't realize I had an aversion to sand until my kids (and hubs) began to love playing in it.



Or eating it, in the case of my youngest.



One thing I was looking forward to was building sand castles with my kids. I remember making drip castles for hours whenever we went to the beach as children. But every attempt to make a castle was pretty much in vain since my children took great joy in stomping upon every sand mound created by a bucket or other castle-building accoutrement. The kids are still young (I reminded myself) and at least their merriment was encouraged around our sand hole, but we had to be very watchful of the other families whose children actually liked to watch a castle get shaped and developed.



So, I'm not a big fan of sand as a Mommy. I didn't know that until we went to the beach. We did lots of sweeping in the condo, lots of towel laundry, lots of hair-rinsing, and lots of shaking-out-of-sand-from-the-bathing-suits. For some reason, I didn't remember this aspect of the beach. But, I guess it didn't bother me in the past since I wasn't the one cleaning it up.

This was the first time I was a Mommy at the beach.