Sunscreen

There’s really no excuse for getting sunburnt in this day and age. Still, many of us get caught out. Knowing what we now know of the consequences, if you’re like me, you’ll feel sick dread the following day. The feeling of guilt intensifies when it’s one of your children.

It’s taken me nearly a year to own up but last summer we went to watch a pre-season rugby game at Lowe Walker Park. The day was overcast, threatening rain so we stocked up on umbrellas and jackets. But, before the first quarter the sun came out with a vengeance. There was absolutely no shade where we sat on the grass verge and, even if we packed up and left, by the time we got to the car in the far distance, we’d be fried. Instead I watched the kids frolic on the hillside as the sun beat down and hoped, by some miracle, its lethal rays wouldn’t find their way to my children’s fair skin.

By that evening it was glaringly evident that they did.

Besides the fact my back was, what once would have been, an impressive shade of fluorescent pink – a talking point of some marvel at the barbecue that night, my biggest disgrace came as the evening wore on and large red raccoon rings began to manifest around Master Five’s eyes. These would go on to blister, thereby increasing my shame.

It turned out I wasn’t the only one who was caught out that day. A friend who’d been sitting along the hillside from us later stated her mortification about the rings, and subsequent blisters, that formed under her baby daughter’s eyes. She went into hiding for several days after that. At least she had the excuse of being a Pom, I told her, and considered applying concealer before Master Five headed off for school.

Although the responsibility of an infant’s sun protection, lies on the caregiver, I couldn’t help but wonder if the girls walking around selling candy floss that day, would’ve been better off selling sunscreen.

I would’ve paid a small fortune.

Nevertheless, whilst nappies, dummies and spew cloths are now a thing of the past in my ‘bag of tricks’, I’ve replaced them with that one essential item – sunscreen.