#TheOrdinaryMoments – Feel The Sand Between Your Toes

If there’s one thing I love to do, it’s to feel the warmth of the sun on my face, the cool breeze through my hair and the sand between my toes.

You can’t beat taking five to sit at the beach: watching the water as it laps at the shore, soaking up the smells of the salty sea air with vague wafts of freshly cut grass, BBQ’s and suntan lotion, whilst listening to the kids laugh and scream as they run amuck.

This is exactly what I was doing earlier this week. It felt great to kick back, to let my hair down and to soak up the sun whilst Paul took the dog for a wander and the kids busied themselves on the beach. I took a moment for myself, it was just a moment mind as being a parent you don’t get much longer…

Parenthood isn’t all it’s cracked up to be; all those sepia, soft-lighted pictures of clean-faced, smiling kids, sat playing peacefully on the shore are an illusion. I can practically count the seconds before one of my kids will come to complain about something when we take them out.

Despite being warned that he’d get wet feet, J took himself for a paddle and low and behold moments later he returned with soggy shoes (which of course I was expected to dry like some sort of magician). E meanwhile was busy burying her feet in the sand, it wasn’t long before she too had the hump as her sandals were (and I quote) “sandy”.

It doesn’t take a flipping genius to guess what’s going to happen when you jump into water whilst wearing shoes (the only pair of trainers which he happened to own at the time may I add) or when you bury yourself in two foot of sand whilst wearing brand new sandals… Why is it then that my kids seem so surprised when they end up with wet, gritty feet?! How they have the nerve to complain when they’re so obviously to blame for these ridiculous issues is beyond me.

Having spent half an hour dealing with endless dilemmas including the sun being too sunny (I shizz you not) I’d had my fill! Our blissful afternoon at the beach had gone from serene to a shambles within less than sixty minutes.

These are certainly our ‘ordinary moments’; let’s face it though – life with kids will never be ordinary nor boring for that matter! I’ve come to realise that It’s all about making the most of those special snippets of time before the chaos commences and life continues to fly by.

Savour the sensation of the sand between your toes and make the most of the calm before the crazy continues!