No Son of Mine...

Katie D.

As I had mentioned earlier, we headed to the beach for Memorial Day weekend. I grew up in southern Maine near the coast.  Going to the beach was something my family did on a regular basis.  All of my summer jobs were at beach.  I am a beach girl at heart.  When we arrived on Saturday the first thing we did was kick off our shoes and hit the beach.  Colby was pumped to be out of the car and was all over the place and “accidentally” fell in the ocean.  Lincoln, on the other hand, was miserable.  Granted he had only taken a short nap but my cheerful, easy going son was anything but happy.  Just holding him while Colby ran around he screamed and cried like we were ripping off his toenails.  Crestfallen, I headed back into the house with Lincoln. No son of mine was going to feel anything but love for the beach and the ocean.  Early the next morning Tom and I lathered on the sunscreen lotion on everyone and headed back to the beach for a walk.  I put Lincoln in sneakers so that he couldn’t feel the sand hoping that might help the transition.  It did not.  I let Tom and Colby enjoy themselves a while longer and, once again, headed back inside with Lincoln.  My determination to get this child to realize how wonderful the beach had not wavered. We had a snack, visited with some family and then grabbed our sand castle tools and went back at it.  (Let me also mention that Lincoln plays in the sandbox at home and loves getting dirty and messy with his brother.) Colby got right to work and Lincoln, not screaming this time, sat on my lap and played with the shovel in the sand for about 15 minutes before he decided he still didn’t like the beach.  So again he and I headed inside. Every time we leave the beach he is happy as soon as we cross the road and get on the porch of the house.  The next and finale day of our stay we decided to skip the parade and try one last time before we headed home.  Lincoln didn't seem thrilled the minute we got on the beach but Tom and I pull out the game of it you touch us we get zapped. As much as he wants us to pick him up he can’t stop laughing because he keeps “zapping” us.  We play this game as we walk down the beach. Finally we stop a little bit and Lincoln realizes again where he is and…..he doesn’t start screaming! It’s wonderful! We walked, stop to pick up shells, threw sand at each other and all the other fabulous things you do at the beach. After a good long time on the beach we headed back to the house, said our goodbyes and went home. We had to work at it but I can now say Lincoln is a beach boy too.  

Here’s the proof…

Going in for a Zap!

Happy boys on the beach!

Sandcastle building!

Colby and Me soaking up some sun!