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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

139 replies

Happybeard · 09/08/2014 14:34

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???

OP posts:
petalpowered · 09/08/2014 20:24

I hate the beach, too.

Can't relax there - just lying out with no shade. Take an umbrella you say? I'd rather just sit in a cafe than go to a big expanse of no shade with an umbrella.

Sand everywhere, or worse, pebbles.

Utterly, utterly shit.

BackforGood · 09/08/2014 20:26

I just LOVE the beach.
Am just back from a week in beautiful Wales.
We've been on the beach every day, and it's been prefect.
Relaxing, free (ok, we paid to park, but...), just heavenly.
If you could guarantee the weather we've had this year, I'd never go abroad again.

PhaedraIsMyName · 09/08/2014 20:28

Depends on the beach. As I am as another poster described herself "a sour-faced snobby misogynist" the beaches in Normandy and Lyme Regis are lovely the beach in the booked in a panic , last minute somewhere entirely forgettable somewhere on the Canaries were awful.

PhaedraIsMyName · 09/08/2014 20:29

Seriously sea swimming is a gazillion miles better than any pool.

Deverethemuzzler · 09/08/2014 20:30

I have a caravan by the beach.

Its a lovely pebbly one but there is enough sand for the kids to play with.

No arcades, no pier, just the sea.

It is blissful.

I can nip back to the van for a wee so toilets not an issue.

Big, big downside is that beaches are really inaccessible so poor DH can't get onto it unless he is having a really good day.

Worst thing about beaches that.

CoteDAzur · 09/08/2014 20:44

YABU. Where is "the beach"? The one you go to might be unpleasant but there are many that are just idyllic.

If you took your children swimming moe often that once every four years, you wouldn't have to worry about them drowning at the age of 8 and 14. And you have only yourself to blame for the torture of spending the day on a beach fully clothed.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 09/08/2014 20:52

I love the beach, we are a mile away, popped down earlier this evening with DS age 6 for a swim.

Deverethemuzzler · 09/08/2014 20:54

That is pretty mean Cote.

LEMmingaround · 09/08/2014 20:59

Yeah. Below the belt that! Not nice.

LEMmingaround · 09/08/2014 21:03

Op I am a big girl. I am quite happy in my cozxie at the beach. Have also been known to do bra and pants. Id like to be slim but I'm buggered if im gonna let that make me miss out. I doubt it bothers anyone watching me wobble into the sea. In fact I bet its quite entertaining watching me hobble over the stones!

GnomeDePlume · 09/08/2014 21:06

but there are many that are just idyllic

Only if you like beaches.

I really dont like beaches, I dont like the sand, I dont like the salt water.

Some people may like them but I cannot see why.

CoteDAzur · 09/08/2014 21:09

What exactly seems mean to you, LEM?

The fact that OP's DC would be confident swimmers at 8 and 14 if they went to swim often?

Or the fact that OP has herself to blame for not wearing a bathing suit when out on a beach all day?

PortofinoRevisited · 09/08/2014 21:11

My dd hates the beach and sand now - though as a toddler you used to have to drag her out of the sea when she turned blue. If you hate the beach, i can recommend Helios Plage in Juan Les Pins, where nice young men bring you coffee and rose wine and then you can go for lunch without putting your shoes on.

petalpowered · 09/08/2014 21:19

I completely missed the bit where the OP said she was scared her 8 and 14 yo were going to drown Confused

Saw the bit where she said she didn't want to fall asleep on a beach (which is presumably a huge expanse of land covered with strangers) because she wanted to keep an eye on her DC.

Seemed reasonable enough to me.

petalpowered · 09/08/2014 21:21

Ah, seen it:

"you having no chance to close your eyes in case your children drown"

You'd sleep while your 8yo swims alone in the sea? I wouldn't, personally. Mind you, I was swept out of my depth in Portugal at the age of 10 and had to rescued by a strange man Blush

Deverethemuzzler · 09/08/2014 21:22

Strong swimmers can drown in the sea.

I would hazard a guess that the majority of people who drown in the sea are pretty competent swimmers. If they weren't they would be swimming in it would they?

Bunbaker · 09/08/2014 21:28

I'm not a fan of sand but you sound determined not to enjoy your holiday. Go and buy a swimsuit and get into the water. You probably look out of place being the only fully clothed person on the beach. Your negativity is likely to spoil the holiday for the rest of the family.

Get yourself something to read, get a sunbed, an umbrella and a cold drink and try to relax and enjoy yourself. Then perhaps you can get to do something you really want to do another day.

Original poster
Happybeard · 09/08/2014 21:34

Well I am back at the apartment and alive with a giant glass of Rioja!!

Pleased to hear I'm not alone!! It was totally awful! But dd just told me it was the best day ever apparently ConfusedConfused

Côte - both the kids can swim. Really really well actually. They have both had lessons and swim at the local pool A LOT. But I wouldn't fall asleep while the eight year old was out there on her own. That would just be stupid.

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 09/08/2014 21:34

"Strong swimmers can drown in the sea."

Again, depends on the sea. We are currently on the Aegean Sea and our sea is very shallow for the first 50 meters or so (5yo DS's feet touch the floor). Even non-swimmers waddle about with no worries. There are no currents and waves are tiny, if they come at all.

"I would hazard a guess that the majority of people who drown in the sea are pretty competent swimmers. If they weren't they would be swimming in it would they?"

That is a silly guess, sorry. Loads of people swim in the sea without being confident swimmers. Like OP's children. You don't swim well and get confident unless you practice lots, and that means swimming in the sea while you are not yet a confident swimmer.

CoteDAzur · 09/08/2014 21:37

Happy - I wouldn't sleep when kids are sleeping, either. I misread your post as not being able to take your eyes off them at all (probably because I wouldn't be able to sleep on a beach at all, with kids or without).

Deverethemuzzler · 09/08/2014 21:39

Do you know what?

I cannot be fucking bothered.

You are absolutely right, totally correct and the Queen of Fucking Everything.

Well done.

CoteDAzur · 09/08/2014 21:42

And you sound lovely.

Doyouthinktheysaurus · 09/08/2014 21:44

I don't do beach holidays and it seems to have rubbed off on the dses, they hate being on the beach too!

I live fairly near the sea and love walking or running on the prom but I can't sit still on the beach. Our holidays are mostly walking up big hills or mountains. Lots of fresh air and good views, cake and tea on the way or at the end, then collapse with wine in the evening.

We were in the Lake District last week, now we're in the Yorkshire Dales, give me lovely walks over a beach any day.....

Crowen85 · 09/08/2014 21:46

Ergh no I hate sand! Kids, sand and sun cream what a combination lol! Nope I only like sand with a clear tropical sea attached.

LEMmingaround · 09/08/2014 21:48

Ive seen someone dragged out of the sea. Drowned. She was wearing a swim hat so I assume she was a competent swimmer. People go Out Of their depth for some reason. I don't know why when you can swim just as well when you can touch the floor.

My dd isnt a strong swimmer but she stays in her depth and I watch. Her like a hawk. My best time on the beach is on my own with a book

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