Oh, where to start! This vacation has been, challenging, at best. Firstly, I forgot my camera. :( I keep meaning to pick up a disposable camera while I'm here, but I forget! When we got here, hurricane Igor was on his way up the coast, but way off shore. Still the waves were insane here, and at high tide, there was literally no beach. The ocean came up to the dunes in front of the house. Today was the first day that we actually had a beach that we could stay on all day.
The kids have been all out of sorts since we got here. At least one child has asked to go home, repeatedly, every single day. There has been a lot, and i mean A LOT of whining and crying. It is very difficult to get everyone to agree to do the same thing at the same time, and we just can't accommodate every child's wants all the time. None of the kids are eating much or very well, all of them are constipated, some may or may not have colds, and Maddie threw sand in Ian's eyes today. Sigh.
And then there is Emma. Last year Emma hated the ocean and was terrified of the waves, but she would happily play in the sand under the shelter we set up on the beach. This year she LOVED the beach...on the first day. She ran and splashed in the surf even! We were so excited for her, until, she was running through the surf and fell. The poor thing did a total face plant. Water and sand was all in her mouth and up her nose. That was all it took for her to regress even worse than her fears from last year. Now she doesn't want to go on the beach at all, and when I dragged her down there today, she sat in Mike's lap and cried. We convinced her to walk down the beach to see the trucks driving on the beach in the 4X4 section. After our walk, she did finally play in the sand and seem to enjoy herself.
Mike and I are both a bit frazzled from all of the crying and whining. And I can't help but wonder what I am doing wrong. Maybe I should try to make some sort of routine for them? Maybe we need to make a plan for the day and let them know what it is and help pick some of the activities? Maybe I should not be awake at 2:30 a.m.? Maybe I need to lower my expectations? Maybe I just need to chill and realize this is all normal 4 year old behavior? Maybe I should just drink more daiquiris!
2 comments:
I think some of that is definitely normal. You are right- I second coming up with a plan for the day and stick to it no matter what. Each year will get more and more fun for each of them, I promise :).
I vote to drink more and expect less!
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