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Beating Beach Boredom By: Lisa Loyd Wouldn’t it be nice to hear the sounds of waves crashing along a shore line, to be sipping a cocktail when the sun sets, and feeling the cool sand in between your toes? Put yourself right there. Nice, isn’t it? You can almost smell the salt air, right? Now imagine your children there with you. Is it still peaceful and relaxing? Probably not. What sounds like a great time to us grown ups can get really boring for kids…really fast. Vacationing at the beach with the children can be a wonderful experience where you can make memories that will last a lifetime but it can also escalate into a frenzy of tears and frustration that will make you think, was this really worth it? The best way to avoid total meltdowns is to be be prepared. Stock up on stuff like kites (cheap ones), magnetic puzzles, coloring books, sand toys, boogie boards, and remember.. never, ever let them bring their Nintendo DS or IPod or any type of electrical toy to the beach. It will get sand in it. It will get ruined and you will hear about it for the rest of your trip. Tell them to leave them in the house, hotel, or wherever you’re staying. Try a day trip into Savannah! A change of scenery will help kids keep their cool. Savannah is only a 20 minute drive from Tybee and has all types of fun activities for the entire family. You can take a trolley tour, visit various historic sites, stroll down River Street, the possibilities are almost limitless. While at the beach you are going to want to relax for awhile in the sun. Your kids will not. This is why it is imperative to buy them floats for the ocean. Personally, I always go for boogie boards because the floats pop within a few hours but, your choice. Kids love playing in the waves and as long as they can swim and you or another responsible adult is keeping watch, throwing them something that floats and telling them to go play in the waves is perfectly acceptable. Eventually it is going to happen. Someone will get stung by a jellyfish. I have personally been getting stung by jellyfish for around 30 some odd years now. Let me tell you what actually relieves the pain. The first thing you should do is to wash the affected area with ocean water not freshwater. The fresh water will make it hurt worse, I promise. Salt water will deactivate the stinging cells while fresh or tap water can reactive the stinging cells. I find that baking soda works great with taking continued on page 30 a discover tybee publication 28 tybeeisland.com


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