Castles in the Sand

This week, we took a vacation- the kiddo and I, along with one of his friends. It’s a first. He’s 10 now. And too much mom is now the stuff that arguments are made of. The vacation is due to the kindness of a friend. Years ago, vacation was a regular part of every year. An extended family event. But life happens...divorce happens. And you carry on. But things are different.

I was determined to make this vacation special. Even with a 10 and 12 year old as my only travel companions.

With a smaller budget, I had choices to make. Luckily, these kids love to eat, and swim. Repeat. Still, I wanted to pack some adventures in without breaking the bank, so the research began. It began with inexpensive things to do in the town we were traveling to. I jotted down several options. Then, shortly after, I got an ad pop up for professional sandcastle lessons. What?? This is a thing?? Clearly, this is an adventure for the ages. I imagined my son sharing this knowledge with his own kids one day. These “legacy projects” are the adventures dreams are made of.

We were happy to feel the sun on our faces as the week was fairly rainy. Our sandcastle instructor met us on the beach and the work began immediately. The instructions were clear, the boys went to work and the outcomes are shared below.

Here are some of my takeaways:
1. Having a sandcastle instructor makes you the most liked family on the beach. We had several kids camp around the lesson for a freebie. (Were all for freebies around here).
2. People on the beach are sometimes oblivious. I had to hold my breath and my tongue on several occasions as grown people came dangerously close to knocking down their creations.
3. When we left for the day, there was a difficult discussion about what would happen to the castle. We talked about what we would do if we happened upon a castle on the beach. Me, being me, said I would add some shells or seaweed to make it extra beautiful and magical. They, being 10 year old boys, said they would probably knock it down immediately. It occurred to me that this is a lesson not just about sandcastles, but about life.

Let me explain. Like the instructor, we train our kids to build a firm foundation. Eat some healthy stuff. Brush your teeth. Be kind to yourself. Your friends. Your family. Be gentle to yourself when you make a mistake. Learn from it. Continue to make things strong, even as you grow taller. Stir things up. Stretch. Learn new stuff, try new things, and check in to make sure you remain strong. Get a little fancy. Learn to use some tools.

But then, when you think you’re finished it is time to celebrate. Even if you are happy with your results, you have to be prepared to continue building, creating, making new things. Because, like it or not, things change. Maybe the sea comes to claim the castle. Or maybe a 10-year-old comes and mows it down. There are more castles inside you. More dreams to build. The real gift of this lesson is the conversations it is leading us to. We call this INSIGHT and it is one of the letters represented in our EPIC adventures. The sandcastle is a wonderful adventure in itself. But the conversations and insights we have about the sandcastle are where the magic really happens.

If you aren’t journaling about your adventures and experiences, I can’t recommend it more highly. It is the gift that keeps giving. Generation after generation if you do it well.