There's No Higher Responsibility As A Man Than Packing Everything Up For The Day On The Beach
Tripod. Getty Images.Everything always starts to make so much more sense as you get older. You think back to summers as a kid being so fun, relaxed, and carefree. You never understood how your old man could be so stressed out all the time. It was the best part of the year. No school, you went out to eat for breakfast, you get back to the house and start getting ready to head to the beach, maybe hit the boardwalk later that night for dinner. It was the tits.
Meanwhile, there was always a look on your dad's face that you couldn't quite put a finger on. You know it wasn't the same emotion you were experiencing, but you still couldn't figure it out. Looking back on it now, you understand that on the other side of that coin of 'relaxed and carefree' is 'total chaos and mayhem'. And the crescendo of that chaos comes when it's time to start packing for the beach.
This is what separates the men from the boys. As the man of the house, you are tasked with a responsibility which will entirely determine how the next several hours of life goes for your family.
Basically at this point you are like a GM who needs to build a championship roster right away. There are a few big positions you need to fill out right away. You need chairs, you need towels, you need snacks, you need drinks. There's only so much space available in your cooler, so that's kind of like the salary cap. You need to do the math of how much space in that cooler you can allot for your own beers which will be critical to your survival of the day, while also keeping enough space open for baby bottles and water and every other snack your kids will want. You know you're ultimately going to pack too many snacks that will go untouched, but that's why you spend money on a good backup QB.
Once you have the foundation of your roster down, now you can start building around them with some luxury positions. You pack up a cabana, some shovels, a few toys for the kids to play with, a football to toss around, maybe a boogie board or two. Wait. Shit. You forgot sunscreen. Okay now where were we? Oh that's right, maybe we should bring the speaker. Another towel would be good just to have in case. Did you remember to throw those bottles in the cooler? I didn't even think about getting the stroller down there. Holy fuck is it humid out today or what.
You're tasked with being able to see the future. You need to anticipate the needs of everyone in your family. Because if you forget just one of these things, it's over. You'll be playing from behind the whole day, and it'll just completely get away from you. You need to find that fine line between making sure you have everything you could possibly need, but also not overpacking because you're going to be the one who needs to carry it all down to the beach.
Again, this is what separates the men from the boys. You know that this is the price to pay in order for everybody else in your family to have a fun, relaxed, carefree day at the beach. You'll pay that price every day. But maybe treat yourself to a quick beer in the garage while you're packing up just to take the edge off.