By Myself

Yesterday, I took the girls to the beach by myself. After a migraine that thwarted a much needed girls night out, a failed shopping trip earlier in the week, and feeling generally lonely, I was pretty down. I needed to go to the beach. Going always snaps me out of whatever bad mood I'm in and makes me feel refreshed and happy. The beach is good for my mental health. The only problem was, I have never taken the girls to the beach by myself. I was scared.

I was mostly scared of the water. Beatrice has no fear of it. Quite the opposite, actually. She loves it and runs for it as soon as she sees it. It terrifies me that she has no grasp of the power those waves possess. I was afraid that she would run for the water while I was nursing or something and I would have to choose which child to tend to. Or that I wouldn't have enough hands to grab her if she needed my help. I decided that having my hands free at all times was the way to go.

My other fear was not being able to lug all of our beach gear and 2 babies from the car to the beach by myself. Typically, we require several buckets and shovels, a blanket, drinks and snacks, camera, and a bunch of other stuff to do/sit on/eat/drink. I decided that I would pack light and only bring the necessities. Also, I had to fit it all in a small beach tote that I could easily throw over my shoulder.

So I packed our bag and threw on the Bjorn and we went to the beach. And you know what? It was pretty awesome. We arrived late in the morning on the most beautiful of days. Instantly my mood lifted. Penelope fell asleep in the Bjorn, Beatrice never ran for the water, I managed to get us to and fro with ease. It was a wonderful day. And I'm totally psyched knowing that I can do this by myself. 

Easy peasy.