Emily’s Musings

Just because we live in the Caribbean doesn’t mean we go to the beach everyday. We don’t go to the spa or even go shopping on a daily basis. That is because we LIVE here. We aren’t on vacation here. Unfortunately, I am that special someone who magically cleans my house and makes my bed every morning. I do the laundry, cook, clean, and shop for groceries. The mere fact that I think about what I’m going to make for dinner every night qualifies me as a local . . . not a tourist. This means I don’t go to the beach as much as I probably should and I am almost embarrassed to say this, but I’m going to tell the truth . . . Hannah and I have not been in our bathing suits for five months. Yes, it is embarrassingly true. However, it has been TOO DANG COLD to get into a pool. That’s right, 80 degree weather is not as warm to those of us closer to the equator as it is to you cold folk up North. The ocean is warm, but Hannah isn’t very interested in water that moves back and forth, and she certainly doesn’t like the feel of sand at all because even she knows it’s messy.

However, this week the temperature has been around 90 degrees and that qualifies as warm enough to get both of us into bathing suits. I pulled out her brand spanking new bathing suit (tags attached and all) from the closet. One look and I knew it was not going to fit. Still, I put her in it, and because it is stretchy . . . it sort of fit. Too bad all the polka dots were distorted over her very round belly and the straps were cutting into the skin on her shoulders . . .

Now, I’m not a big fan of baby bikinis. Mostly because it is means more skin to lather with sunblock, but a friend of mine gave her a really cute one as a gift and it is the ONLY bathing suit that fits her. So thankfully, she didn’t have to go to the beach topless.

After getting over the shock of touching the messy sand that sicks to you, Hannah was able to sit and play in it. This is HUGE. This is a child who points out messes to me and puts her toys back in her toy box because the floor is a “mess!” She even points out to her friends (who eat like normal 18 month olds . . . sort of messy) that they are a “MESS!” and she gives them a look of sheer disgust. I keep a package of baby wipes on hand when she eats because heaven forbid her hands get a little bit of food on them. She can’t think, let alone eat! I have created a very, very, very, clean problem.

I had to photograph Hannah actually sitting in the sand and playing with it for David. I knew he would need photographic proof to believe me, because lets face it, he knows how our child feels about sand. With only eight weeks left on this island of paradise, I’m sure we will be hitting the beach a lot more and hopefully, Hannah will get over her fear of the sand.

Hannah is a typical 19 month old. Translation: she can turn the TV on and off and she knows how to use the remote control. Well, at least she thinks she does. She usually presses too many buttons, or all the wrong buttons, or the ONE button that will make your remote and TV self destruct. I’m not a big TV fan. Mostly, I’m not a fan of background noise, which is what the TV provides.

Hannah really doesn’t care about the TV that much. It’s only when her bossy little index finger takes over and decides it would be GREAT FUN to IRRITATE the HECK out of her mom by pressing the ON and OFF button, 1000 times. A few Sunday’s ago, (as her finger took over and she lost all ability to hear, think or obey her mom) she discovered a crazy (more like irritate the heck out of you) show called Boohbah. I honestly couldn’t believe that a show like this could actually generate enough ratings to run on TV. Truthfully, I thought aliens were invading our TV.

Here’s the thing, she LOVES Boohbah with all her little heart. She talks about it daily although the show only airs on Sunday at 4:30pm. She has only seen the show twice, but with all the enthusiasm she has for this show, you would think she was the president of the Boohbah fan club. Apparently, David and I enjoy “child TV show torture” because we PLAN to have her watch this show on Sunday. AND, AND, AND, we go to the website almost daily (at her request) and watch as her face lights up and we relive our own carefree childhood moments through her eyes.

This is what Hannah looks like for 30 minutes in front of the TV when watching this show. And now know you know why we have no choice but to allow this indulgence every Sunday.