BLUE CRABS IN HEAVEN

My Captor and I just hosted a bunch – Gaggle? Swarm? Mob?  – of grandkids.

It was our daughters’ families, each with 3 children, a total visitor span of 17 days with about a week overlap.

Which seems like a lot – and based upon the research, it actually was – with a complicating factor: Tropical Storm Debby, which made outside activities no go for a couple of days, meaning we had a house full of 6 children.

Which is why God made beer.           

But it was almost like they were two different families.

Very different families, based upon their child ages: One group 7, 9 and 11, the other 7, 4 and 2.

The biggest difference napping, a hobby I share with the second group – the youngest taking a daily nap, his older brother semi-periodic quiet time. Sort of like his PA.

The other biggest difference our fear of ‘beach indifference’ from the older group – particularly the 9 and 11 year olds – the 11 year old already ‘sideways hugging’, and we fear they’ll miss their friends.

And while we had a few “I’m bored” moments, they seemed happy for the stay duration.

At least if they were telling true on their guest comment cards.

But as ‘cruise director’, the challenge is to develop activities which interest both groups.

The napping period meant we beached in the morning, or late afternoon. Or both. But I have to admit, the hours of quiet time mid-day were pretty nice.

When we beach with grandkids, I’m historically in the water, largely due to my fear of the ocean, or more precisely, child drowning.

Those 7 years-old and older, are all good swimmers, the 1 and 4 year olds aren’t yet trustable – but enjoy the water, and chose me to accompany them, bringing back great memories of our own children.

And silent prayers of thanks to the inventor of kid’s flotation devices…

Though we never ate lunch at the beach, we enjoyed PA’s air-fried hot dogs on a few occasions.

Of course, donuts at the Winn-Dixie are a shared activity, as what PA – and grandkid – doesn’t love donuts?

But the surprise activity was crabbing: our son-in-law took the raw chicken by the neck and got us after blue crabs.

It was interesting to watch – and do – string dangling the raw chicken neck until a crab bit it, reeling them in slowly, until someone could net the crab.

Which happened 30 or so times, which meant that once the crabs were steamed we had about 2.6 ounces of meat.  

Kind of like plucking a featherless chicken, one of my favorite party games.

But interesting watching our son-in-law go ‘Full Ahab’ on crabbing: Doing research, buying the necessary supplies, leading the cousins on their mission, and ultimately steaming the crabs.

The activities shifted when the families were here alone:

The younger group up early, in bed at a reasonable hour. More magna tiles, puzzles, less TV.   

The older group up nearly as early, in bed a bit later. More Fortnite, TV, and baseball.

And per tradition, the lone daughter in the group getting a mani/pedi with Queenie.

An amazing pair of visits – the best of times!

With an asterisk, of course.

Because hosting is a lot of work – meals and activities to plan, house to maintain – My Captor is very busy.

I handle the hard work – like buying beer. And buying a basketball hoop, which I must admit, was a big hit.

But it takes time to reenergize…

… which is why I’m stopping now, to take a nap.

For 243 more posts like this –each with a wish for a hint on where the mint jelly is– go to beersatthenifty.com. Your phone will display every post, and you can waste an hour or two.

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And I’m now on Substack at justluckytobehere.substack.com. Same stuff, but a different location.

ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THIS POST, PAIR IT WITH THE FOLLOWING ‘AGING HIPSTER MUSIC’:

Lambchop- – not the Shari Lewis puppet  – is a band from Nashville, with Kurt Wagner their lead, backed by a variable wide-ranging set of musicians. They were formed in ’96 as Poster Child (hadn’t heard of them. either), but renamed due to there already being another Poster Child. Added to the BATN playlist: ‘Ohio’ ‘The Man who liked beer’ ‘Slipped, Dissolved and Loosed’ ‘Grumpus’ and ‘Up with people’ (my current favorite).