Thursday, August 2, 2007

IHS International

Sunscreen_2




I’m starting a new club. The, “I Hate Sunscreen Club.”
Membership is free and requires only a passionate hatred of sunscreen
application. I don’t think I’ll have trouble building a sizable membership. I
see mothers on the beach everyday, going through the motions of applying
sunscreen to themselves and their children. The children fight, whine, pull
away, squirm and cry. The parents coax, bribe, manhandle, rub and spray. Just
walk along any beach or poolside and you’ll have ringside seats for a SPF
parent/child wrestling match.





Sunscreen is, unfortunately, a necessary evil for outdoor
summer activities. Without it, our children’s skin would be scorched and
peeling and destined for skin cancer. We couldn’t live with ourselves if
that happened. Sunscreen is not a win/win though. Our children are suffering
from vitamin D deficiencies. Their bones are not as dense as they should be and
their teeth are suffering. Protecting our kids from skin cancer is causing
damage in other parts of their bodies. So, every time we lather up our children
in 50 SPF, trying to explain to them the importance of protecting their skin
from the dangers of the sun, we should be shoving vitamin D supplements in
their mouths and making time for “safe sun exposure.” What a crock. $7.95 a
bottle and we still can’t win. Sunscreen sucks. Join the club! I’m lathering my
kids up momentarily to hit the pool and I need some comeraderie.





11 comments:

  1. I was a charter member of the IHSC for many years. I was in charge of smothering the greasy white stuff all over my kids. I did so one handed, while the other hand pinned my little angel to the ground. No longer. I quit one day after the darling boy became too big for me. Now he is 16, and does not leave the house without it. I merely supply the stuff. Believe it or not, all that wrestling is teaching your child something...responsibility.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What? You don't want your children to peel?!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have three of my own children and I watch a niece and nephew on a daily basis. So before I can attempt to leave the house I have to herd five very hyper kids around so each of them can get their sunscreen. After five-"I don't want to go firsts" I'm just about ready to throw the sunscreen away and stay inside. It's usually at that point they all volunteer to go first.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We have a member here. Every morning before we go to school, I need to apply sunscreen on his body, school policy. He fights everytime, but less when we turn on the TV. So every morning, we watch TV While I apply.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Speaking of hating sunscreen - has anyone found a face sunscreen that doesn't sting your eyes and make them water like crazy when applied?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Keli-
    Teaching responsibility is all well and good but it's hard to take comfort in that when I'm in the midst of a wrestling match :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Alyson (or Chase--I'm not sure):
    I want them to, believe me. But, like I said, I've got to draw the line somewhere :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Maribeth-
    Wow. You just made me feel a whole lot better about lathering up two of them!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good idea Emily. TV is a good distraction for my son. Not so much for my daughter. Her, I just have to wrestle.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Aunt Becky-
    I must endorse a product here. Those Coppertone Baby Face sticks are great. They don't run or burn the eyes. I used the entire week I was at the beach and never had the burning eye thing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. If you find a sunscreen that doesn't burn your eyes, you can thank many rabbit's that had their eyelids held open while different solutions were applied until the one was found that didn't irritate the eyes. Gotta love the animal testing.

    ReplyDelete