How to Be A Supermom at the Beach
How to Be a Supermom at the Beach…. step #1 ignore most of what you see on social media. Social media has an overflow of ideas for beach tips for moms that look amazing. Some are tips, some are hacks and some are simply ridiculous – I can’t even carry that much stuff to the beach let alone bring the children (they do make pretty Pinterest pictures though). I have been bringing our kids to the beach for years and with 6 children that is a lot of practice! Last week, I shared my camping tips. This week I am moving onto a beach theme so I thought I would chime in on my top 3 beach tips with kids which will make you a supermom at the beach. And before I list them, my definition of super mom is providing your children with a fun day without running yourself ragged or making yourself crazy. That’s a super power! Ok, on to the tips…
- Bring as little stuff as possible – save your strength it is hard enough to walk in sand! The beach is the entertainment. The kids will swim, stroll, collect shells and people watch. Don’t even bother with a beach chair for yourself if you have really young kids. You won’t sit down so why carry it. Stay tuned for another post on what I do bring to the beach.
- Take breaks – we usually go to the beach in the morning, walk back for home/camp/hotel for lunch and head back in the afternoon. It is too hard to stay all day. If we do stay all day, it is only when we have just one day to spend at the beach. Occasionally, we plan a road trip to spend the day at Jones Beach on Long Island in NY. We pack a lunch, lots of sunscreen and enjoy the beach for the entire day. If we are on vacation at the beach, we almost always head home for lunch to take a break, reapply sunscreen and restock snacks.
- Pack snacks or lunch – The swimming, digging and walking can make everyone a little “hangry” (hungry and angry). Pack easy snacks and don’t let everyone dig their sandy hands into the bag. I usually have one person with clean hands distribute the snacks. I am not a clean freak or a germ freak but one sandy hand in a bag of chips adds a little too much crunch for my tastes. Here is where the kids will even call you supermom – candy is a must beach snack in our family but no chocolate (melts too quickly and too messy). My two top tips about snacks is #1: bring frozen water bottles to keep the drinks cold and #2 bring an extra empty bag for garbage. After soda cans and juice boxes have been sitting in the sand, you don’t want to put them back into your cooler or snack bag. Again, I’m not a neat freak but sand in your cooler is a pain. I am possibly a sand freak….
The bottom line is KEEP IT SIMPLE! All those hacks on Pinterest seem so great but some require a lot of effort and stuff. Use your “supermom” powers to keep it simple and easy, you will enjoy the beach more!
