On a recent summer afternoon, I drove to our town pool. The July sky was blue-gray, with a band of clouds—a bit ominous, to be sure, and definitely not optimal swimming weather.
Grace and Anna Leddy, however... Let me tell you something about my daughters, friends. They love swimming at the town pool. Love it. They love jumping off the high dive, they love bumping into friends, they love snacking on their beach towels (they especially love snacking on their beach towels).
So whenever possible in summer, as long as it's not raining, I take the girls to the town pool.
This particular day, though... Braaack. Braaack. The unmistakable sound of thunder. The sky opened up; rain began pouring down.
The girls groaned.
I glanced in the rearview mirror. "Sorry, girls. Another time, OK?"
"What are we going to do now?" Grace wondered.
Ah, the question parents love to hear all summer long.
"Hey...Mom?"
"Yes, honey?" I looked in the rearview mirror again, made eye contact with Grace.
My older daughter cringe-smiled. "Do you have your credit card?"
It was my turn to groan.
...the question parents love to hear, all summer long.
When I take the girls to the pool, I travel light. I never take my whole wallet, instead putting just my driver's license (and sometimes my credit card, too, but not always) in a little bag in my big "pool tote bag," which also has snacks and towels.
The main reason I leave my credit card at home? So that when my children ask me for Popsicles, french fries and cheeseburgers from the (overpriced) snack bar, I can say, "I have no money, girls. No money to spend on more snacks for you."
Sometimes, though... Sometimes, I do stick my credit card in the little bag with my driver's license, just in case.
Grace and Anna know this. Which is why, that day...
"I do have my credit card, actually," I told Grace. "In case we had time to run an errand. Since we do have time..."
"What's the errand?" Grace asked suspiciously.
I sighed. "There's something I can grab at Marshalls..."
The girls squealed. "Marshalls! Yes, let's go to Marshalls! Marshallsssss!"
Agh. "Girls! I need something. One little thing, OK? We are not going to Marshalls for you two."
Of course, half an hour later the three of us walked out of Marshalls with the one thing I needed, plus two Life is Good trucker hats for the girls.
"I love my new hat," Anna said, smiling as we buckled back into the car.
"Me too," Grace said, admiring her reflection in the rain-streaked window. "This will be perfect for the beach."
Stanton, the girls and I just returned from our family vacation. We spent a week in Newport, R.I., in a cottage steps away from the beach. This time together was the most relaxed I've felt in months, and I so appreciated the break (and the girls did indeed get good use out of their new hats!).
Of course...traveling with kids usually requires a bit of blood, sweat and tears, as we all know. The time away is rarely 100 percent "vacation." For example, despite our cottage being easily walkable to the beach, the four of us still had to lug all our stuff to our preferred spot on the beach each day.
Beach chairs, boogie boards, cooler, spikeball game that needs to be assembled and disassembled with every use, beach umbrella that also needs those things...
As I like to say, though, friends, life is my cardio.
Speaking of cardio... One of our family's favorite things to do in Newport is walking the Cliff Walk every summer. The natural beauty of this historic trail, nestled against the Atlantic Ocean, is breathtaking. Some parts of the trail are easier (the paved paths) than others (the unpaved parts, where you're literally rock climbing over boulders).
"Hey, guys," I said to my family this past Tuesday afternoon, as we were nearing yet another unpaved section of boulders, "this has been so fun, and we've walked about three miles of the Cliff Walk so far. Maybe we get off here, a little early, and catch a trolley downtown for lunch?"
"No, Mom, look—more rocks up ahead!" the girls replied. "This is the fun part. Come on, Mom!"
"Yeah, let's do this, Mel!" Stanton fist-bumped me.
I paused to catch my breath. Wiped sweat off my forehead. Gazed at the upcoming terrain, helpfully labeled "Difficult" on my pocket map.
"OK...sounds good...life is my cardio..."
"This is the fun part."
Summer. A fun season, but tiring too. At least for me, as I've see-sawed from one destination to the next all June, July and August: work at the library, the girls' various summer camps, the pool, the pool, the pool.
I recently received an email from the girls' school district, with a message detailing "school supply lists for 2023-2024." And I couldn't help thinking...you know, it will be a bit of a lift to drop the girls off at school again in a few weeks.
(Please tell me I'm not the only mom who thought this when they saw that email...anyone? )
The girls were curious about their school-supply lists. "What do I need, Mom? What do I need? Can you go to Amazon right now to buy everything?"
And predictably, the question that comes up every time of year... "Do you have your credit card handy, Mom?"
Photo credit: Pixabay
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