Writing -- Baby Talk: Summertime!

The following article featured in a weekly column on parenting in the Women on Wednesday supplement of The Evening Echo, one of Ireland's leading regional daily newspapers. It appeared in the 09 June 2004 issue.

Ah, summer… balmy days… long hazy evenings relaxing on the patio, a favourite tipple close at hand. OK, reality check! First of all, this is Ireland, whose summer weather is about as consistent as her politicians. Second, with three young children at home longer days aren't exactly relaxing… they're just longer.

For parents summer heralds the promise of good weather, and the prospect of hunting the kids outdoors more often. At the first glimmer of summer sunshine the girls were smothered in factor 20 and deposited in the garden. Naturally, the twins being the twins, this didn't happen without a bit of drama.

They wanted to take their dolls out with them. No drama there… but here's the catch. If they had to wear sunscreen, then their dolls had to be protected from the sun too. There was no point extolling the UV resistant virtues of plastic skin; in their minds dolls were just as entitled to sunscreen as children. In the end I persuaded them that rubbing some of the excess cream off their own arms onto their dolls would do the trick, and out they went until lunchtime.

Apart from the occasional shout and the odd muffled yelp peace and tranquillity reigned. It was amazing… and for a while I thought I was in the wrong house.

The day turned out to be a scorcher, and we opted to have our lunch in the garden. I love eating outside… the food tastes better (I know it's a dreadful cliché, but it really does). There's also less cleaning up afterwards. A quick wipe sorts out the table, and the birds and other garden critters polish off any wayward scraps that the girls have managed to distributed around the area, which means there's no need to sweep up.

In general things are easier with the girls spending more time outside. They're happier outdoors… there's more to see, more to do: plenty to keep them occupied. All they need is a bit of peripheral supervision and they're fine.

Another boon of the better weather is that we can get down to the beach more often. We're lucky, there's a fabulous little beach just five minutes drive from the house. On summer evenings it's wonderful to take a stroll along the sand while the girls run riot. It's a great way of sapping their energy before bed.

But the advent of summer is a two-edged sword. Picture the scene… it's 8pm, and miraculously the sun is still blazing down from a crystal blue, cloud-free sky. The girls have been zipping around non-stop for close to thirteen hours: little dynamos of boundless energy. At this point they're exhausted… and they're not the only ones.

"Girls… bedtime."

"But Daddy, it's still day-time."

"No, chicken, it's night-time now. In the summer the sun stays out later," they're not convinced.

"But Daddy, where's the moon gone?" asks the other twin, scouring the heavens.

"It's hiding, come on, bed!"

"Oh, but Daddy, it's not dark yet."

You can see where this is heading…. Reasoning with a three year-old is an exercise in futility - trying to reason with two of them simultaneously will drive you demented. Getting them to bed is a challenge at the best of times, but daylight adds yet another weapon to their arsenal of delay-tactics. And, of course, late to bed means tired, cranky little girls in the morning. Oh joy!

On balance though the pros of summer far outweigh the cons, and the girls are much happier spending time outside than being cooped up in the house. So, if we could just crack the bedtime thing, all we need for a glorious summer is that our fickle climate delivers some sunshine. Fingers crossed!