Trust Me on the Sunscreen

There are 1,758,329 things I got wrong as a mom. Actually, I may have miscounted. Make that 1,758,330. See what I did there?

There were myriad mistakes, screw-ups, misjudgments, misunderstandings.  There were hurt feelings, too many safety warnings, the one safety warning I missed, and injury resulted. Sometimes the regret over these errors settles in and starts to make my heart feel heavy.

So today, I am slightly more discouraged than usual.  And on this Tuesday as we roll into summer, I can only honestly assure you that I was definitely, completely and totally right about one thing. I made my kids wear sunscreen. LOL

To quote the 1999 hit song, “Trust me on the sunscreen.” Everything else I advise, take it with a grain of salt. Use your own judgement and consider it my story, just one way to do it. By sharing what I did, maybe you find something you can use and maybe you discover something you certainly DO NOT want to do. But this time of year, as the weather gets warmer and the sun gets hot without warning, put sunscreen on the kids (and yourself).

Because really, any kid with a sunburn is a sad sight, but a child with special needs and sensory issues with a sunburn is even worse…just avoid it altogether.

Another Option

If your kids have trouble tolerating the spray or lotion sunscreen, minimize the surface area exposed to the sun with SPF clothing. They have quick-drying clothing that is made out of bathing suit material so the kids can wear it in and out of the water. They stay protected from the sun without needing the goopy lotion. The clothing, plus a hat and sunglasses and they might not need much sunscreen at all.

Slather it on or cover them up, and just keep loving them through all the other mistakes.