Of Fatherhood
kids, at least at this age.
ing my kids, 5 and 3 years
old, respectively, up on the
Fourth of July till the fire-
works and beyond does not
date and then taking a guess at
what the weather will be like. It's
always sunny and warm enough
for the pool in his mind, by the way.
that it was July 2, two days before
the Fourth of July. He reminded
me I don't have to work on that day
and then followed that up with,
"and I do not want to see any fire-
works."
only 2 years old."
mazed me how parents
could lose their children
on the beach. That's no
longer the case because
I know now it's actually
quite easy.
summer weekend lifeguards can
handle as many as 100 lost kid
cases in a day. In a typical sum-
mer, about 2,000 kids are lost and
each one, thankfully, gets reunited
with his or her panicked parents.
but there have been a few sec-
onds of panic here and there, es-
pecially when a game of hide and
seek breaks out unbeknownst to
us. That's a growling to myself mo-
ment for me.
known to venture away in sly fash-
ion. He prefers to be down near
the water, jumping waves and
tions, which usually revolve a-
round an age and hometown com-
parison and whether he or she
wants to jump waves together. If
distracted, he will wander over to
other people's camps and start
digging and playing. The good
news is it's not usually that far
away.
decided he wanted to be a stub-
born boy and simply took off with
the wind away from us. As I follow-
ed him, he simply pointed down
the beach, as if to show me there
was something worth going to see.
followed along for a bit before I
had to turn him around and point
him against the wind because
whatever it was that had his atten-
tion no longer existed. He seemed
to enjoy going downwind much
better, but he eventually gave in
and headed back toward our
group.
napping for Pam and me. How-
ever, we have found it's still relax-
ing. It's just different than it used to
be, and we have come to accept
there is little time for the beach
chair besides lunch and snack
sessions.
the beach, even if it means keep-
ing the closest of eyes on the little
ones, particularly during those
devilish surprise hide-and-seek
moments.
careful what you wish
for" moments in parent-
ing, and the latest for us
involves Carson and the
pool.
wanted Carson to want to be in the
pool. For some reason, he was
trying times for his parents.
moment he opened his eyes in the
morning to bedtime, and the other
who despised it and made life mis-
erable for whichever parent was
trying to coax him into the pool and
keeping him content while in it.
brother's love of the pool. He also
seems to have adopted Beckett's
reckless ways around the pool.
as was the case last summer, Car-
son now routinely jumps in on his
own with reckless abandon and
tremendous joy, opening up a
whole new set of issues that we
were hoping to have to address
some day. Now that these issues
are before us, I am wondering
whether last summer when he
seemed to fear the water was so
bad after all.
mer in Beckett and another who is
still learning that he has to keep
his mouth closed in the water in
Carson.
and is intent on doing what his big
brother does at all times even if
he's not ready.
matter if he has his swimmies on
or not. If Beckett runs on the deck,
Carson wants to do the same. If
Beckett goes down the slide,
Carson wants his turn. If his older
brother gets thrown across the
pool, he wants to be tossed as
well.
full of craziness.
examines their transition into parenthood and
all that goes along with it. E-mail any
thoughts to editor@mdcoastdispatch.com.)
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