Growing up, my absolute favorite place in the world was the beach. My family had a house in the Outer Banks, NC, and we would go every summer and spend a week boogie boarding, collecting shells, and just generally having the most magical time. So, of course, as a parent, I wanted to share my love for the beach with my children.
Here’s the thing you learn very quickly as a parent. To give your kids the magic of your own childhood, you are suddenly thrust into the role of the human-behind-the-curtain. Because to create those pristine memories of crashing waves and ice cream nights for your children, you have to endure all the challenges that go into making it happen.
As a kid, vacation is magic. For the adults, we know how the sausage is made. And it includes standstill traffic, sand in every crevice of the car, dirty rest stop bathrooms, mounting credit card bills, wet towels, and whining.
There is also the added bonus of that special thing you receive when you first take your child home from the hospital. It’s probably more accurate to say it arrives when you take that first pregnancy test. It’s fear.
As kids, we’re unstoppable. We dive into those waves and don’t come up for air for hours. There’s no amount of lifeguard whistling that will keep us from enjoying our time at the beach. But as parents? Sheer terror the entire time your child steps foot on the beach; from sunburn to jellyish stings to riptides.
And yet we endure it all with a smile because now we know that we are sharing magical memories. Whether it’s a weeklong Disney adventure or just a day trip to a hiking trail, all the planning and paying, whining and worrying is worth it.
