Sun Cream…or Sun Scream? What a palaver!

As the summer holidays approach and the obligatory pre-holiday ‘essentials’ shopping trip for the get-away looms, no doubt you have put sun cream on your shopping list. Everyone has a list right, or is it just me? I love a list.

We bought enough sun cream to sink the titanic and are big advocates of slathering on the protective stuff, however, it seems to be the bane of our family holiday this year! Call it a trio of mini tantruming kids – is there a collective noun for this?

By the time all sun cream had been applied to the three musketeers followed by ourselves I may have stamped my feet in a tantrum to the amusement of my husband. It was almost lunch time and too hot to venture out right?

Now I know that all sun cream instructions recommend staying out of the sun between 11am-3pm. What they don’t mention on the small print is the palaver of applying it to a slippery 20 month old eel, reeling and wriggling to the amusement of his 4 year old elder brother – a ninja tot with ants in his pants also bouncing, beaming from ear to ear. They seemed to have some kind of secret code that only tots know.

We haven’t even entertained the ring leader – 5 year old big sis going on 8! Confidence seemed to be swirling as she shimmied into the front row of tots, hands on hips no doubt fully up to speed with the delirious duo whilst improvising a made-up “sun cream” dance! 50+ Factor, more like X Factor eat your heart out. Back turned for 1 second whilst applying the sun cream to the eldest and all of a sudden things seemed quiet. Great I though but where was the youngest? Only sat on the floor in the bedroom with a big grin on his face and the entire contents of the sun cream slathered all over him looking like a squidgy mini marshmallow.

We haven’t ventured to the beach yet, merely poolside. I don’t think I could cope – that would open up a whole new sandy sun cream fiasco no doubt. Hope it’s still sunny outside, but I feel the need for a lie down somewhere quiet in the shade.

The husband is in charge, what could possibly go wrong?