Summer Fun and the coolest trick to make sure the sand doesn’t stick!

Summer is finally almost here, and thank God we seem to be avoiding the June gloom Southern California generally gets. No kidding, usually every June it gets flipping cold and rainy, and clears out around the 4th of July, where we bake until November. Go fig.

That means it’s time to pull out the old swimsuits and hope to God I can still wear it, and have to start shaving my legs again. Sigh. I got all three of the kids private swimming lessons a few years ago, out of self-defense. Like a lot of autistic kids, Kennedy, Alex and Bella would jump right on into any handy body of water, not concerning themselves with the trifling little detail that they couldn’t swim. Alex jumped in, hot dog and all. After several near death experiences for Andy and me having to jump into a pool fully clothed, we just couldn’t wait any longer. Problem was, the lessons were expensive. Like most of the stuff we have to do with autistic kids, we couldn’t just enroll them in the public swimming lessons at the local YMCA. Tried that, it didn’t work out so well. We went to the Rose Bowl Aquatics center – which is, surprise! At the Rose Bowl, so popular for New Year’s Day football games. Who knew they had an awesome aquatics center? The private teacher, Kathy, was awesome, and honestly, they did give me a break on the lessons based on our circumstances. It never hurts to ask if there’s some sort of scholarship or grant when you have to get your child private lessons because they can’t handle public ones. And there’s no shame in it, either. Most of us can’t afford private lessons.

At least this year seems to be starting off with some heat! So, back to the pool we go – the one at our building is freezing because they don’t pay to heat it, and it doesn’t get much sun. I figure it’s good practice for the freezing Pacific Ocean up at Malibu. They have shorty wetsuits for that, so they don’t chatter. Kennedy and Alex will swim right out there with the surfers with their little boogie boards, which means Andy and I have to, also. Bella will play in the sand now, and run screaming from waves, like little girls do. They all had serious sensory issues with sand, too, before they discovered riding waves cancels that out. We got lucky, there. We have to keep a couple of bottles of Swimmer’s Ear with us, since they have a hard time clearing water out of their ears. And my buddy Josie, who is a scuba instructor, showed me the coolest trick of all. When you get out of the ocean and half the beach sticks to you, no matter how you try to brush it off – use baby powder!! It bonds with the sand and it literally brushes off, especially in those areas you don’t want sand. Of course, you end up looking like a powdered doughnut for a while, but I figure it’s worth it.