By Renee Martinez, Founder of Raising Boys World
We don’t live close to a beach, but I swept up so much sand, one might assume the beach was in our backyard. I’m a little worried about how I’m going to control the amount of filth that comes into my house this summer.
It was a beautiful day so the boys wanted to play outside. It was hot too, so they decided playing with some water would be fun. That wasn’t fun enough. So they thought sand might be fun to add to the mix. So in went the sand added to the sand/water table. Well…if only it had stayed in the intended location. Not by a long shot.
A Sandy Day
The boys (primarily the 5 and 3 year olds) decided to take the water and add it to another little tub/water table and mix in some sand. Cool. They played with boats and cars and whatever else. Then, one splashed the other. One whined about getting splashed and the other whined and splashed more.
This began early. There were several changes of clothes. Breakfast, lunch and dinner interrupted the day’s play.
At some point, one of the boys had to go pee (the 3 year-old I assume) and so he decided to pee in the yard. Hopefully not on my flowers.
The 5 year-old was too hot (and wet) so his shirt came off.
They decided it’d be more fun to sit in the murky sandy water, than to play with it. The 3 year-old didn’t like the feel of wet underwear from sitting in the slop so he preferred being naked from the waist down.
Fortunately, they were in the backyard, so my neighbors didn’t have to observe the entire comedy. They were a riot! Needless to say, traipsing in and out of my house all day with sand stuck all over their little bodies…I can’t walk on the floor without noticing sand. I swept and vacuumed. It’s impossible to clean up. The outdoor patio was a disaster too.
I realized I’d had enough mess for one day, so I summoned them into the house (after hosing them down) and put them in the shower. We ate, talked and went to bed.
I think I might need to set some rules.
As if that was not enough excitement for one day, my allergies have hit me so strong…I’m miserable! My nose is running like a sieve, my head feels like a giant balloon. I tried to get my butt to go for a run, which was a joke. I can’t breathe!!! Being pregnant last spring, my allergies didn’t bother me as much. Now I feel like I’ve been hit with a ton of bricks. I think I’ll have some leftover peanut butter pie, maybe that will clear up my nasal passages and make walking on sand less annoying.
About the Author: Renee Martinez consults and speaks professionally on social media marketing, integrated marketing communications, public relations and branding. She is the president of Ruby Marketing Communications (www.rubymarcom.com), a boutique marketing communications company that specializes in providing branding, social media strategy and integration, and creative services. Her blog (www.lisac95.sg-host.com), provides resources on everything marketing and social media for her active audience.
Renee has contributed as a featured monthly columnist in the monthly jewelry industry publication, JCK, on matters related to internet marketing as well as in InStore Magazine as a featured blogger where she writes about developing effective marketing strategies for the jewelry industry using social media. She is the founder of: Social Media Biz Summit (www.socialmediabizsummit.com), the first large-scale SM conference to come to Buffalo, NY; #jewelrychat, a weekly twitter chat for the jewelry industry and www.RaisingBoysWorld.com. Renee teaches social marketing courses at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY for the business school as well as offers small group social media marketing training and educational seminars for businesses in Western New York and beyond.
Renee has dabbled in the internet marketing arena since the early 90′s and is not ashamed to call herself a “marketing geek”. From chatting in AOL, “sharing” music on Napster, and teaching HTML classes before it was considered “cool” to developing comprehensive social media strategies, effective public relations campaigns and managing online communities (most recently Chevy Girls Buffalo).
She enjoys being able to help people find their voice online and to create buzz about their product or service that will give them the results they desire.
Renee can be found on Twitter (@reneemmartinez) and Facebook (http:/www.facebook.com/RubyMarCom).
