I think I might be failing Motherhood 101. Everyone’s faces are dry, peeling and reddish. As much as I try to keep sunscreen on their faces it just doesn’t seem to be doing any good or happening as often as it should. They are all crispy…Stan included.

Stan will sometimes snap at me asking “Didn’t you remember to reapply sunscreen?” AGGGGGHHHHH, I try to remember but get sucked in to the beach void and sometimes forget I even have kids here.

I told you that Lisa and I spent yesterday on the beach with just the girls. She and I buried our noses in our books and read and read and read. The girls were left to their own devices…mostly. Lisa did get up and go into the water with the girls. I didn’t spend any of the day in the water with them. I just sat on my ass and read my book. To my credit, though, I did remind the girls to reapply sunscreen. Molly did. Claire told me she did not. You would think I would have noticed that Claire hadn’t reapplied but the truth is I was too engrossed in my book to notice whether or not Claire reapplied sunscreen. Oooops, there goes my good solid C in this class called parenting!

Zach stepped on the spine of a horseshoe crab and it looks terrible. It’s packed with dirt and yuck. He’s been asking for neosporene and I’ve been telling him where it is but we were both too lazy to go get it. Today, Zach had to do some doctoring to his foot so it doesn’t become an infected, gangrene mess. Wounds are not my area. I’ve told the kids that since the day they started falling down and hurting themselves. Stan does injuries and I do illness, so I really don’t feel I should be docked point for failing to clean Zach’s foot.

I don’t think Stan and Tim’s grades are much better though. The boys spent all of yesterday (and I do mean all) on the pier fishing and every single one of them have cracked, peeling skin. They had a blast but they are crispy.

I am sitting here, typing and ignoring everyone else. I want to ignore the upcoming pleas to go do this or that. I really have no desire to pack lunches, pack towels, pack cars, drag it all across the road, set it up and then drag everything back again. Here we are at the beach and I have no desire to do the beach thing today! Mark me down for another F in Motherhood 101.

Fortunately, today is starting off as a day of recovery. The kids are watching tv, out on the dock fishing and kayaking in the canal. They don’t seem to want to do too much. I totally agree with their assessment. Their energy levels are depleted. But by the end of the day, the kids will be ramped up and ready to go. Their day of recovery will turn into my latest way to earn another bad grade in Motherhood 101.

Luckily, I do have therapy funds set up for all of the kids so they can work through any issues my failures inflict on them. Oh, for the love of my children…