To believe that no one can have ever possibly enjoyed the beach?

[Happybeard]

I've avoided the beach since taking my then 4 and 11 year old who are now 8 and 14. I had thought that four years was long enough to have recovered from the trauma and was actually looking forward to it but having now been here for an hour can't think of a single thing that is remotely enjoyable... The stickiness, the sand EVERYWHERE no decent toilets, the sun making you sleepy but you having no chance to close your eyes in case your children drown. Plus am hideously over weight this time so am fully clothed.
Am looking around and everyone else looks miserable too. Why do we do this???

I love the beach. It's only 5 minutes from me, and I'd spend all day, every day there if I could.

Beach blankets, baby wipes, cool boxes; those are your beach friends. The DDs and I even put dinner into Tupperware and go and eat it sitting in the beach when it's nice; and our birthday tradition is to sit and drink coffee, and watch the sun rise over the ocean.

I think my dd would prefer you as a mum. It's hell on earth for me

I think you've missed the sandcastle crafting, the digging giant holes to the water, the burying each other and taking silly pics... The fish and chips...

Id hire a sun lounger and parasol... And use the nearest cafés toilets rather than the beach ones... with coffee breaks

If it's a lifeguarded beach I expect your kids are old enough to be sensible and entertain themselves for short periods?

Hope it improves for you

I'm so bored I think I might slip in to a coma

We've just spent all week on a beach on the south coast. We LOVED it! kids paddle in the sea, dig for HOURS in the sand. The toilets on the seafront were lovely, the icecream was great and we had lovely pasties from the bakery in the town for lunch. WIN. No complaints from me apart from the the stonking sunburn on the top of both my thighs which meant I couldn't sleep properly for two nights...

I also hate the beach. My husband and kids love it. Permanent sense of tension

Sorry Happy living by a beach is my dream, can't think of anything better.

Stratters I am well jel!

Can you not lay your hands on a book/magazine etc to give you something to do? Surely you don't need to constantly watch an 8 yo and a 14 yo?

I love the beach.

I delegate child drowning prevention to DH, and yes the toilets are a bit minging, but that's what the squat was invented for.

I probably wouldn't like it as much if I had to be fully clothed though, that's what makes the sand get everywhere. If you can wear a little dress and flip flops it's easy enough to get the sand off yourself and just shake it off other things that will be washed when you get home anyway.

I live near the beach and I love it, lots of good ideas above, good shades, good books and loose cotton clothing are all good.

I think at 8 and 14 you can lay out some ground rules and relax. Simple, obvious ones, like stay in sight, calf height paddling, and no swimming. Next time bring a good book and a picnic, and enjoy zoning out.

No cafe, no loos, no amenities at all at our beach. If you need a wee, it's the dunes or the sea. Upside is that there's never ore than 2 or 3 local families within sight on the whole beach.

Thanks all. The 14 year old is reading a crappy magazine, so the right year old is on her own. She's a swimmer so she won't stick to paddling. I'm too hot to read and husband is asleep.

Absolutely detest it but have he distinct impression that as I lay on my death bed I will regret it horribly. Fortunately we are abroad so I don't have to contend with English parenting showing me up!

Make a big mound of sand and carve out a turtle.. that's what I do when I'm bored at the beach

YABU to think it because so many people love it.

DD and I love the beach. DD loves the paddling and sand castle aspect, but I especially love strolling along down the shore for a couple of miles. We live in quite a built up area so it's lovely to get that fresh sea air.

Feeling sad about not going anywhere this year now

Haha gamerchick that's funny. But the sand would stick to my sweaty masses of flesh

Oh OP just seen you're abroad.

I must admit I'm more of a fan of our beaches than row after row of sun bathers etc.

It looks nice but is tedious. But I'm an autumn person. Think summer folk have a mode where heat makes them happily able to do / think nothing for hours, reading easy beach type novels or just lounging back and enjoying the sun. It's beyond me. Dull as fuck. I feel you OP.

Time to wake DH up; do hour long shifts, then both parents get a decent snooze.

And 8yos should do as they are told. No swimming means no swimming; tell her DH will take her for a swim during his shift.

I love the beach, I take my kindle and just enjoy the sun and salt. I hate the no decent toilets, I guess most people use the sea to have a wee to be honest- certainly the kids would. A She-wee thing might help for those grim ones.

I hate the beach too.

We rarely step foot on the beach when on holiday, much prefer grassy parks for football and picnics.

We always have a seaside trip one day in the school hols so do try to make the effort to go on the beach then. We build a sandcastle, fly a kite then quickly get bored and fed up of the bloody sand everywhere and head off to the pier for arcades and icecream.

Sand is a twat. Fact.

Nope, give me a pool and a bar any day.

Oh I adore the beach - both UK and abroad.

UK: rock pools, running shrieking into freezing water, crabbing, harbors, body boarding, tea trays carried into the beach from the beach hut, fish and chips. People watching.

Abroad: expensive hotel sun lounger with hotel staff who bring you a drink if you so much as open an eye. Bikini, easing self into a warm sea, sand so hot you hop down the beach, swimming pool in beach / grounds of hotel, outdoor showers, sunbathing. People watching.

higher I'd have enjoyed some of your list as a kid but now only the ice cream holds any appeal. Soggy sandwiches, cricket and cockling would never have appealed. But as you say, everyone's different.