Yesterday, I took the girls to a beach for a few hours to escape this miserable heat.
Being a good, vigilant Mom I slathered both kids with SPF 50 prior to leaving the house. I forced them to wear surf shirts and hats for extra sun protection. We are pale people and the thought of burning their sweet, tender skin fills my mommy heart with terror.
The beach was wonderful. We ran. We swam. We played. I maybe forgot about reapplying sunscreen.
When we arrived home I noticed that Abby had two bright red spots on her checks. Panic. And her arms? They looked a little pink. And her legs too. Oh. My. God. Sunburn.
I quickly covered her in Aloe and continued to poke at her to access the damage. Was it really a burn? Or perhaps just the heat?
Because no decent mother lets their kid get sunburned. WE all burned as kids and especially as teenagers, but now we have SPF 100 sunscreen. We know about skin cancer. One sunburn and your chances of getting skin cancer skyrocket. I have never seen a kid with a tan, much less a sunburn.
Abby took a bath and went to bed with no complaints, but I continued to panic. The next day was water day at school, followed by a pool party. Two events she had been looking forward to all week. Two events outside. And the forecast was for sunny and 95 degrees.
But what kind of mother would I be if I let her fry in the sun again?
I tried pulling off her covers to check the status of her skin as she slept, but all I got was a groggy kid telling me to get lost.
Morning came, and much to my relief she looked fine. No sunburn! What relief. What joy.
I dressed her, slathered on lots of sunscreen and we headed off to school.
We arrived at school and received this greeting from her teacher:
OH ABBY, YOU HAVE A LITTLE SUNBURN!!!
Apparently, I am such a bad mother I am delusional.
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Oh no you are NOT a bad mother! The sun is so strong as it is...that I think this is bound to happen once in a while. But geez, the teacher didn't have to draw attention to it! LOL
ReplyDeleteI'm paranoid about the sun too. But when I was a kid, we would spend the entire summer with a sun burn. And the mothers would all use Afro-Sheen as suntan oil to get a really deep dark tan. Now that's a skin hazard right there!
ReplyDeleteEvery kid gets a little sunburn every once in a while. Don't sweat it! :)
ReplyDeleteOh - I guess I'm a bad mother too.
ReplyDeleteCute post - hope it goes away fast.
Take care - Kellan
I panicked just the same when my son had a little red spot on his check where I missed with the sunscreen. I felt guilty as well!
ReplyDeleteUh oh...the Bad Parent Police are coming for you!!!
ReplyDelete(I kid, I kid!)
Sounds like you had a fantastic time at the beach! Yay for summer!
No, no, no...... you are not bad. Every kid gets a little burn. ;)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way, like if the kids get a sunburn I am a bad mother but the fact is that it's gonna happen some of the time. And if you are a bad mother for it then so am I! ; )
ReplyDeleteIf I had been another Mom overhearing the teacher scream that, I would have been so relieved to know real life happens to other people too!
ReplyDeleteQuite the contrary, you are such a good mother that you even worry!
ReplyDeleteAgain I say, I'm jealous you can GO to a beach so readily.