Unconventional

Having been brought up to always be a "good girl", I sometimes catch myself thinking it's unfair that the girls who don't follow the unwritten rules I learned as a child (for example that the house must be cleaned at least once a week) or the girls who are simply unconventional (stay in bed on weekends to 10 A.M. and serve their family breakfast sometime around 11...), never get reprimanded. And girls like me who diligently want to make their mothers and mother-in-laws proud (even though the one lives on the other side of the planet while the other one is off enjoying heaven) never get that shiny medal, trophy, or even some damn recognition for their undying efforts.

So today when we had our family council after breakfast, my daughter once again reminded us, in no uncertain terms, that we had at the beginning of the summer promised her we'd at some point drive to a beach an 1½-hours from here - Böda Sand on Öland's northern tip. The weather up until today had just been so-so, and the prognosis called for mostly sunny skies but with temperatures no higher than 70 degrees F (21 C). Still it's the 22nd of August and school starts on Thursday....so if not now - when?

The conventional girl had a list, or rather an encyclopedia, of reasons why we shouldn't go - the aforementioned house to clean, lawn to mow, work to do, translations to be done, classes to be planned (along with workout to try out class plans). Add to that - long drive, uncertain weather, expensive gas prices, high expectations that Böda would be sooo incredibly amazing compared to beaches closer to home - oh, I could go on and on and on.

Logic is, well, so logical when you hear its arguments in your head. But try explaining logically to your 10-year-old: things like why vacuuming can't possibly be put off a day or two, or hell, even a week, when today very well could be our last chance to go to Böda this summer. Besides my daughter, who knows me better than my husband at times, could smell my efforts to scam her from a mile away, and she wasn't buying any of it!

So we went. The weather was glorious (even for someone like me, who in case you didn't already realize it, isnt' a real fan of spending all day lying on a beach). The sun shone the entire time, and the wind was completely still. The beach was practically empty as we lay out our things by one of the sanddunes. The crystal clear water was cold at first, but more refreshing than I could imagine. The kids ran around, splashed around, played around, constantly shrieking with joy. My husband and I could sit beside each other holding hands, taking it all in, everything that was right with this picture.

It ended up being a perfect day.