Last week I was awakened by Eli crawling into my bed while it was still dark out, "I have an idea mom. Let's get up and go surf and then go out to breakfast. Remember our date?!" He was wide awake and super enthusiastic. My first thought, I was sure there was no swell and the usual spring time wind had been creating less than appealing surf conditions. On the other hand, Eli was in his second week of spring break, and I wanted to make sure he was having fun and staying active, (i.e. getting worn out as much as possible!) Plus, at our previous weekly family meeting, we had talked about different ideas for spring break and one of mine was to make special time alone for a "date" with each member of our family. When I expressed that, Eli wanted to make sure our date was a "surf date." In a loud whisper he broke in again, "Come on Mom, get up, it's gonna be fun!" I left my warm bed and a peacefully sleeping Paul and Harper with the intention of having some time to connect with Eli, regardless of the poor surf conditions.
Sure enough, we got to the beach and there was a mixture of on shore and south wind blowing which makes an undesirable bump on the water. There were lots of empty parking spaces, which is never a good sign. If the surf is good, it is packed no matter how early it is. As we pulled up, Eli jumped out of the car and as we did our usual surf check to suss out the conditions, I crossed my arms, shivered and just remained silent, while he said, "Looks fun and uncrowded! Let's go out!"
We opened up the back of the car, suited up and headed down. As we hit the water, Eli was all smiles, "Ah, the water is sooo warm still." At this point, I realized that for each negative thought I had, he had something positive to say. He was right, it was warm, compared to the air and for the time of the year for sure. We paddled out and he immediately caught a wave, rode it all the way in and paddled back out still grinning, "This is fun, huh, Mom?!" In his eyes, it was just as fun as being out on the best day of surf. I smiled at his enthusiasm and said, "Yeah, it is nice to be out here with you." The only people out were 4 kayakers and 2 longboarders. The kayakers only ride waves at surf spots when it is uncrowded because they are big, akward and not well accepted by some surfers. We did catch quite a few bumpy, wind swell waves and some of them were fun. By the time we came in, everyone else had gone in too, all the kayakers and the surfers. He looked back at the empty surf spot, and then at me, and said the first non-postitive comment of the morning, "Oh man, no one out?! This must be like the worst day ever!" It was like he just realized how bad the surf conditions were. Then, I did what he had been doing all morning, and pointed out the highlights, "Hey, we surfed uncrowded waves, in warm water and we got a front row parking spot." He immediately caught my drift, smiled and said, "Yeah, and now we get to go to out to breakfast!"
I am grateful for my childen for helping me stay in the present moment and focus on what really matters. In the eyes of our children, it is all about connecting with them. For Eli, and I, the ocean is the place where we connect best, no matter what the conditions are like!
These photos were taken last summer after Eli had spent 8 hours at the beach.
I love his beachy look, and salt stained eyes.
Photos: Pam Birmingham
