Since I was off from work this week, I decided to make the most of it. And by making the most of my time off, I mean laying on the beach all week getting tan and enjoying the relaxation. Here are some pictures so you know how gorgeous and beautiful the beach was 😉
So there I was sitting on the gorgeous Indian Rocks Beach rocking out to my super cool jams (pretty sure it was like the Spice Girls or something…I mean I was using my iPod shuffle from like the dinosaur era) when this family of 4 comes strolling up and sets up camp next to me….literally they had pop-up tents and everything (they were IN-TENTS beach people I guess…see what I did there? Camping…IN-TENTS instead of intense….I crack myself up). But what really caught my attention is that the two kids (probably 3 years old and 5 years old) that were wearing those stuffed animal backpacks that have leashes that attach to their parents.
Here I am sitting on the beach and it becomes clear that I am watching a freaking train wreck. You would think that once they got all settled, the parents would let the kids off the leash to play in the ocean, but NO, they took their kids into the freaking ocean with the leashes still on. Now, I’m just thinking out loud here, but don’t you think those stuffed animals full of gulf salt water are going to STINK really soon?!? Like it’s a 1:1 ratio, 2 parents, 2 kids. You can’t manage to watch them without tying them up? The poor little guy kept trying to get ahead and the dad would pull him back. It was like walking my Shelby dog, she likes to pull hard too! Here are some pictures to illustrate the scene (NOTE: I have edited the pictures to protect their identity!)
So, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: child leashes really freak me out. Here is some cozy, cute little stuffed bear the kid is all excited to wear as a backpack and boom, there goes all of their freedom. Like, I really hate judging people, but come on, if you can’t control your kid well enough that you have to tie them up and treat them like an animal, perhaps something bigger is going on. Clearly I don’t have kids, but I do understand they are a handful, but seriously, JUST HOLD THEIR HAND! Don’t tie them up!
All of this makes me think about when I was little, and my mom took me to the mall. I was probably about 3 or 4 years old, and we went to JC Penney. When we were there, my mom ran into a good friend of hers and was so excited to “show me off” to this lady. Well, while my mom was saying hello to the friend, I ran underneath the clothes rack. My mom said “here is my daughter, Alicia,” and yup, I was nowhere to be found. My long blond hair somehow got tangled with the metal clothes rack, and I was totally stuck underneath all of the clothes. My mom heard me under there and tried to pull me out causing me to scream and freak out because it was pulling my hair. I guess I was the kind of kid that really needed to be leashed up! 😉 I probably still should be….
UnLEASHed 