Kitchen Table Blogs
Name: Jeanne Wieland
Kids: daughter, age 13; son, age 10
Works: editor, MilwaukeeMoms.com
Favorite part about being a mom: Built up my tolerance for bodily fluids of all sorts.
Least favorite part about being a mom: Constantly telling my kids to turn off the TV.
Famous for: Not caring who started it.
After a busy, fun-filled Fourth of July weekend, it was time yesterday to slow down the pace and regroup before Monday hit.
I woke up Sunday morning with only one plan in mind -- hit the beach. Which beach didn't matter, all that mattered was that it would include water and sand and maybe some nice trees and sun and a beach chair -- you get the idea. The real beach experience.
A mostly cloudy Friday and Saturday seemed to make this need even more urgent.
Of three possible takers in my family, I got one on board, and he brought a friend. In short order, the three of us -- me and two 10-year-olds -- were off to the beach.
I plunked my chair down into the sand, spread out the towels and watched the two boys hit the water -- only to shriek after running calf-deep into the icy pool known as Lake Michigan. I have to admit I was a little nervous after seeing their response because my internal timer indicated that I needed at least two hours of beach time, and if freezing water was going to cut the boys' activities short, I could be in trouble.
But before I knew it, the boys put their snow tubes on the water and proceeded to jump on top. Paddling away from the shore, they floated north, got themselves back to the beach, only to set out again into the lake and repeat the process.
After a few rounds of this, they headed over to a large puddle (hardly worthy of being called a pond, but a very large puddle works) and began the very serious work of catching tiny black tadpoles in the plastic containers we'd brought along. In short order they were joined by some other boys and girls, all shouting orders to each other ("More rocks!" "More water!") in an effort to get the perfect beach habitat built for as many tadpole babies as could fit inside.
They threw rocks, collected driftwood, dared each other to swim in the freezing water, kept up work on the tadpole haven, dug in the sand and even did a little exploring in the nearby woods.
The first time I checked my watch, nearly two hours had passed without one request to leave or any indication of boredom of any kind. It would be yet another hour before we packed up to leave, a little sunburnt and sand-caked, and very grateful to the beach that worked its magic yet again.
The most perfect way to spend a
summer Sunday. How lucky that
Lake Michigan is just a short drive
away.
Tags: beach; summer
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