A Typical Day in the Life of Surfing Mum

By Vanessa Thompson Byron Bay Surfing Mums

 

Things start early at my house. We don’t need an alarm clock anymore, our three year old does a great job of making sure we rise every day of the week at the same time, 6am. After my wake up call and a short snuggle in bed from my little one I am summed to turn on the TV. I stagger out to the living room, trying to keep my eyes shut, and then squint enough at the TV to get it going. What a blessing T.V is at 6am.

 

I get about another half hour sleep and then the calls start coming for breakfast. “Mum, I’m hungry, so hungry!” I can’t keep my eyes shut during this process so it’s up I get and start my day.

 

After I’ve satisfied my little ones ravenous hunger with a hearty bowl of wheetbix, honey o’s and bananas I sprint to the computer to get it booted up for the day. It’s about now that I start to think about what the surf will be doing. I have a quick look outside to ascertain if the wind is blowing hard enough in one direction that I can pick it, a southerly (good for our local spot) or a northerly (bad for our local spot) then I scan the horizon to check for swell on the distant ocean. If neither of these give me a good picture of what’s happening I plug right into www.coastalwatch.com and see what they have to say about about the surf condition. This generally sets the mood for the day. If the conditions look unsurfable, then I look ahead at my day with mixed feelings. In a way I can just relax now and find something for my son and I to do that’s fun and does not involve the logistics of carrying around a surfboard and enough toddler beach toys and paraphernalia to keep the little one occupied. However if the surf report looks good than it’s a frantic call around to make sure my surfing mum partner is ready to go, that we pick a location to surf, that both children are not suffering from some childhood contagious disease, and we are both organized enough to get out the door in time to beat the crowds at the beach parking lot. Than it’s the anticipation that eats me up. Driving into the bay I’m frantically searching the coast line for a peek at what it will be like, wondering if the surf will be as good as the report said, or if the predicated change in winds will have it howling on shore before we even un pack the car.

 

Now that we have arrived at the beach it’s the inevitable struggle of carrying the toddler, toys, towels, wetsuites, surf mat and surf board down to the beach. I try not to catch the eye of any other people on my way down to the beach so as not to catch the looks of pity cast my way. I can imagine I look like a desperate mum and people might wonder why I take up surfing at all! They are probably thinking to themselves- why doesn’t she just wait to that poor kid grows up before taking up surfing again?

 

At last dumping all the gear on the beach I see my surfing mum partner struggling down in the same predicament. She unloads all her gear and board and toddler on to the beach and we start the planning of our day. Who will go first today, what sort of mood are the kids in, suggested activities or persuasions that are in order to make sure the kids are happy. Then one mum gleefully grabs her board and heads out into the blue bliss. The other mum then turns her attention totally to the kids knowing that her turn will come and she too will be able to experience the pure fun we call surfing.

 

Well if those same people who saw me struggling down to the beach saw me on the way back to the car after my surf they’d know why I do it, it’s the look of total satisfaction on my face, the way my child can do no wrong even as we struggle back to the car loaded down now with wet and sandy gear that proves that the saying is true- a surfing mum is a happy mum!