Lying on the beach on a sunny Wednesday morning, watching E make a secret hiding place for her beautiful rocks and realizing that she is - finally - becoming more of a bff/sidekick/partner in crime, and less of a needy little munchkin, every day.
We had a beach day today, picnic lunch included. If it weren't for the E. coli advisory and the departure-time tantrum, I'd say it was perfect. There was virtually no parenting involved (again, except for some minor tantrum-management). It was a beach day, akin to the ones I used to have with my grown-up friends, and my childhood friends before that. It was relaxing. It was fun. It wasn't a flurry of injury prevention and anti-drowning tactics and removal of foreign objects from mouths and diaper changing and sand removal and chasing and chasing and NO! and We forgot the wipes! and Ack! She's in the sun!
Actually, it reminded me of the last time we went to the beach, when we were visiting Zoey and family in Sarnia. The men strolled the beach, the ladies sat and drank coffee and ate breakfast sandwiches and - get this - finished their sentences, while the girls make rock gardens in the sand and splashed around responsibly.
Yes, life is starting - juuust starting - to regain some the normalcy of old. I don't know how much of it is E's age and how much of it is me finally chilling out a little, but it's nice. It helps that it's been ages since I've worried about packing diapers and a change of clothes and bottles and a million snacks and three bags worth of just-in-case nonsense. I have wipes, some water and a snack or two and sunscreen. Anything else that comes up can be purchased or worked around. And E is pretty adept these days at creating her own entertainment, rather than having me racking my brains trying to keep her occupied. She's happy enough with a mass of sand and some rocks, as long as I participate with a few oohs and aahs amid her incessant chatter. And of course, I must be ready at a moment's notice to pretend to be a mama dinosaur or bird or shark when she's ready to hatch. But all of that can be done fairly successfully from the comfort of a beach towel.
What a lovely development.
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