Summer Lovin'

We're right smack in the middle of summer and the major heatwave just passed last week.  We're going downhill from here all the way to Freezerville once again in a few months.

sun-drenched during a weekend at the lake

sun-bathing on a friend's boat

My daughter pretty much soaked up the sun at camp for the past two months, not realizing that she has more melanin on her skin than most kids around here.  Her now very much bronzed skin is the envy of most locals young and old in this place.  For most Asians though, this is a tragedy...and I became the mom who doesn't take good care of her daughter's skin by letting her tan out in the sun.  The Asian in me still feels like that every time I see her dark shoulders.  In my subconsciousness, I feel the urge to make her use papaya soap or whitening lotions to get her color back.

the fact that she's immensely enjoying herself could be enough reason to  let her bask under the sun.

On the other end, I (still grudgingly)  try to see how lucky she is to have skin that reacts to the sun that way.  Asians don't really burn unless we're really careless.  From back home, I never really recalled having to put on sunblock at all ever since I was a kid.  And this is from a place that's 90 degrees F (and then some, plus humidity) all year long in the middle of the day.  The most protection I had against the sun is a shade or an umbrella.  But then, back in the day, the ozone layer wasn't as depleted as it is now and sun rays are not as harsh.

A couple of weeks ago when I picked her up at camp, she said, "Mom, I just passed my deep end test.  And I went into the high dive...it was 12ft high".  This was after her Dad just told her to not get into the water if it's above her waistline.  I'm thinking if her Dad had his way, he'd probably have a leash on her and tie it around his waist. 

It's a good thing she didn't take Dad's ridiculous advise too seriously.  I thought that was really amazing that she learned this precious life skill at camp...a life skill that both her parents never learned themselves even as they lived in the islands all their lives.  So yes, maybe her skin getting dark (if you look at it in a bad way like I still do) may have paid off.  Her color is bound to come back in the winter, but the things she have learned and the confidence she built is something she can take with her for the rest of her life.