Good Company

"So, you're here? By yourself? With 3 kids?" My neighbor across the alley, a woman with children my age, quickly scribbled down her phone number for me. "For emergencies," she explained.

She's not the first to question how I manage to survive down here, a weekday single mom. Ocean City is our retreat, our escape from the rat race. As this town blooms with visitors for the summer season, people are every where. I don't know a ton of people, but am fine to get some adult contact by chatting with a neighbor, conversing with the many old ladies who stop me to see the kids, talking to the water ice guy on the boardwalk. Some adult conversation sprinkled throughout the day, that helps keep me going.

But, I have to wonder, do they kids need more than my company? There is no lack of children to play with--the boys next door are down often, kids who rent nearby homes for a week or two, the playgrounds are just crawling with little darlings and friends come to visit. But, as far as adults go, I'm just about it for them from Monday through Friday.

Last night, we joined my friend Julie and her three boys in Sea Isle City for the "Sarah the Turtle Festival." Our cousin, Kate, also a Sea Isle summer resident, joined us. The Sea Isle promenade was packed with so many kids and not so many activities. We fought the crowds for a while, and then snuck off to Yum Yum for some ice cream before the masses caught on. All the boys sat at one table, while Julie, Kate, Charlotte and I sat at another. The boys had a great time, eating multi-colored ice cream on cones, their laughter attracting the attention from everyone else. (It was cute, not annoying, I swear.)

After, the kids and I headed back to Kate's house, initially for a bathroom break. But, as we tend to do, we made ourselves at home. And, as they tend to do, the boys got hungry, despite devouring ice cream cones just moments before. Always the gracious hostess, Kate put out snacks of chips and dips. Carter also helped himself to a banana. Charlotte serenaded us by playing a pot and spoon ensemble.

Then, the real entertainment began. Will told Kate everything he has learned this summer about marine life--turtles, sea stars, horseshoe crabs. Everything. I'm sure you've heard a conversation like this before, with each sentence starting with a breathless "and, then. . . and, then. . . and, then." Not to be outdone, Carter did math problems for Kate. "Do you know what one plus one is? It's two!" Carter liked Kate's reaction, so he continued. As his math equations got more complicated, he'd ask me to whisper him the answer, sometimes having to come back two and three times for the answer again, before he could show off his knowledge.

When Matt and Lindsay came home, they could hardly get a word in edgewise. Carter went into his schstick about the Wii and probably talked a full 30 minutes straight. If they ever had a question about the Wii, surely Carter has answered it. And, if listening to someone talk could physically exhaust you, this lopsided conversation was a perfect example. The chatter continued as we walked to our car, as both boys tried to talk their captive audience into sitting in the back seat and coming home with us. I'm sure they were glad for their escape and grateful for the peace and quiet once we had gone.

The boys, so happy to have entertained some willing subjects for the evening, did their best to keep their heavy eyes open on the car ride back over the bridge. Even Charlotte fought sleep, babbling non stop from her car seat. They were all obviously recharged from the change of pace, and the adult attention from someone other than me. But, once our sleepy heads hit their pillows, sleep came easily for us all.