January 8, 2023 • 8 mins
Summer Series
Topics included in this episode -
- Ways to make your day at the beach a totally epic summer experience!
Find us on Facebook at Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families
Email us your questions and comments at podcasts@happyfamilies.com.au
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's the Happy Families podcast. It's the podcast for the.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Time poor parent who just wants answers.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Now. Hello, it's doctor Justin Coulson with Kylie, my wife
and mom to our six daughters. I'm the co host
an parenting expert on Channel Lane's Parental Guidance. Season two
is coming soon and today we are going to do
a lightning round called Beach Days. Why well, we've lived
near the beach. We love the beach. We can't get
enough of the beach. We've got a lot of experience
taking our kids to the beach. It's the middle of
(00:31):
summer here in Australia and summer holidays means everyone's got
to go to the beach at least once. But we
want you to do it safely, we want you to
do it well, we want you to have a great
time doing it. Just recently we had the wonderful doctor
Anthy Rhoades from the Royal Children's Health Poll talking about
water safety and the devastation that occurs when children slip
into the water silently and disappear from adult view. We
(00:56):
want to make sure that people are safe. So Kylie,
here's how it's going to go. We've got about four
and a half minutes to run through as many tips
for parents when they're taking the kids to the beach
as possible to make it as wonderfully, fabulously super as possible,
but also as safe as possible. I've got a huge
list of things because I love taking the kids to
the beach. I think that I'm the pro and the
(01:17):
family with this, but I reckon you're gonna have a
few things to add. You're looking at me like you
don't believe me.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I can't wait to hear your list.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay, Number one, leave early, so you can leave early.
What I mean by that is if you don't live
near the beach, which has been our experience for a
long long time. When you go to the beach and
you leave at like nine o'clock in the morning, like
everybody else, you sit in traffic forever as you're trying
to get to the coast, and then you get there
and there's nowhere to park, and then you get out
of the beach and it's hot, and the sands sticky
(01:45):
and horrible, and it's absolutely packed, and it's just not
a very pleasant day, which is why people don't like
going to the beach. Plus the wind is up. The
wind is horrible at the beach. My number one tip
is leave early, like, get to the beach around I
don't know as early as you possibly can. I'm gonna
say seven. But some people might think that that's just rude.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well, in Queensland, I don't think it is at all.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
No, no, no, But the whole idea is get there early.
When you get there early, you get a park, but
you also miss the heat of the sun.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, but you also pretty much have the beach to
yourself pretty much. So when you're dealing with young children,
it's so much easier to superfice them when you're not
having to share the beach with a bajillion other.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
People one hundred percent. And then you can also leave early,
which means you can jump back in the car at
about nine o'clock or ten o'clock or eleven o'clock, whatever
it is. When everyone else is arriving after they've just
sat in traffic for two hours to get there, and
you're like, we've had a full day. The kids are
absolutely zonked, whether they're two or twelve or even in
their late teens, they're like that was great, and you
(02:41):
can kind of Breathe easy, you've already had a great day,
get home in time for lunch. You're not spending a
fortune on food at the beach. It just works early.
So my number one tip leave early so you can
leave early, not that you want to leave, but if
you're going to go, get there early so you can
enjoy it at as best and then you can come
home early before it's not as nice. That's that's really
what it is. Number two, kids were young.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, my number one love for the beach with swimming caps.
Bright colored swimming caps for the kids. I could see
them from a mile away and I knew exactly where
they were at all times.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
The same with the bright rashies. Right, so brilliant idea.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Well, dogs don't They actually don't stand out as much
as you think they will.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
But the rashes, like if you get a really glaringly
lairy one, they can. But the swimming cap.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
And it only really works obviously for young children, because
as soon as kids work out that no one else
is wearing them, it's harder to convince them to wear them.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
But they may That's when you need to supervise them
the most difference. Okay, my next tip, cool cabanas. You
can't take mine, not sponsored, but seriously, instead of those
beach umbrellas that blow away, and instead of the cabanas
that are really all the.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
This is literally the best beach investment we've made.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yep. The smaller ones are like one hundred and fift
two hundred bucks. The big ones a obvious a little
bit dearer, but these things are that's They're the world's
easiest things to put up. They give you fabulous shade.
I love them, and I reckon that if you're going
to go to the beach, you want one, and I.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
It's literally a two minutes setup. It is so fast
to set up. The kids could set it up on
their own pretty much. It's so easy to do. And
the coverage is what I actually love the most. There
is always a full square no matter where you are.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Depending on the sun.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Well, no, you might not be sitting under it, you
might be away from it, but you've always got that
solid square of shade.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Which brings me my next one, which is rash shirts. Sunscreen,
like the Australian sun is horrendously bad. A couple of
times this summer I've been burnt because I've only been
outside for fifteen twenty maybe thirty minutes, and haven't covered
up properly.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, you can tell that we're actually out of practice
because we haven't lived near the beach for so long.
Because you don't usually get burnt, but you've come home
a number of times and I'm.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Like, what is going on? Yeah, my bottom lip fell
off because it got sunburned. I didn't get kissed for
a week and a half. It was horrible. My next one, flags,
excuse me, hello, flags and supervision. Flags and supervision, like,
just don't turn your back on your kids, don't leave
it to the lifeguards. Please watch your kids and make
sure they're swimming inside in between those flags. Absolutely critical
(05:11):
from a safety point of view. Just has to be done. Okay, sorry,
I went, but it's your turn.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Now you're going to let me talk.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Still got a few more? Can I do my next one? No, Okay,
when you're ready.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
We've got one dry towels, a good one, not necessarily
any brand in particular, but just when I have six
children that I'm dragging along to the beach and they
all have their big fluffy towels, that's a huge amount
of stuff I've got to carry.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
When we were stuck in Queensland because of COVID restrictions.
A couple of years ago, we booked a holiday when
we could finally travel again and went to the Wit
Sundays for four or five days, and we forgot our towels.
The only place we could find towers was in one
of those chemists at Early Beach and they had those
quick dry towels. Since then, you've kept them in the
car that they get used all the time. There's such
(06:00):
a brilliant purchase.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
They take up less space. So the seven tails I
have take up less space than one fluffy towel H
takes up. And like you said, I just keep them
in the car and they're perfect, brilliant.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
I'm going to keep you warm, Okay, I'm going to
go with I'm going to go with my next one.
Take water and maybe even a few treats, especially if
you've got to travel. Costs a fortune when you have
to stop and no one wants to stop it. You
don't have to stop at a supermarket on the way
of the beach. Make sure you've got some stuff in
the car, some fruits, some water, some nuts, maybe even
a less healthy snack as well, depending on how your
family rolls, and it just makes the trip more enjoyable.
(06:34):
Choose a great playlist that everyone can agree on, and
just get to the beach with that water because you
will want it once you're there.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And my last one is go with friends.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Oh I had that?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Always fun more fun if you've got someone to go with.
Take a frisbee, take a cricket ball.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
And bad if you want, or yeah, excess orriz.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, it's always more fun and it requires less brain
power from you as a parent if there's other people there.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Volleyball and a soccer ball for the same purpose down
at the beach. The kids love to kick and throw
and hit those balls around and it's just great. I've
got three more really quickly. We're out of time, so
I'm going to do it very fast.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
You look at me like I told your five minute
podcast is.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Now we're at about seven and a half minutes. But
don't give me a hard time about it. It's worth it.
What are you last? Three boogie boards or surfboards, just
even with the little kids. Take them. But as a
follow up to that, part B of that is, don't
push your kids into situations where they're going to be
scared in the waves. You can push boundaries later when
they're older and they understand how the ocean works a
bit more. But having those boards, having the float, he's
(07:33):
having something to catch waves on is such a thrill
for kids. It's so much fun. And my last one
is if you can pay for surfing lessons, go to
a beach where there's a little surf school. Pay the
small amount of money, little cost for those surfing lessons.
The kids will become more familiar with the ocean. They'll
get a real thrill out of writing those great big surfboards.
(07:54):
You'll have somebody experienced to guide you. And I just
think there are I think they're a great way for
kids to enjoy the beach and take the pressure off
you a little bit as.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Well, and learn to read the ocean.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah maybe not on surf lesson number one, but over time, Yeah,
a lot of fun. We hope that those beach tips
are fun for your beach days as we make our
way through summer. Thanks so much for listening to the
Happy Families podcast. Back tomorrow with some road trip tips
on the Happy Families Podcast Summer series
It's the Happy Families podcast. It's the podcast for the.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Time poor parent who just wants answers.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Now. Hello, it's doctor Justin Coulson with Kylie, my wife
and mom to our six daughters. I'm the co host
an parenting expert on Channel Lane's Parental Guidance. Season two
is coming soon and today we are going to do
a lightning round called Beach Days. Why well, we've lived
near the beach. We love the beach. We can't get
enough of the beach. We've got a lot of experience
taking our kids to the beach. It's the middle of
(00:31):
summer here in Australia and summer holidays means everyone's got
to go to the beach at least once. But we
want you to do it safely, we want you to
do it well, we want you to have a great
time doing it. Just recently we had the wonderful doctor
Anthy Rhoades from the Royal Children's Health Poll talking about
water safety and the devastation that occurs when children slip
into the water silently and disappear from adult view. We
(00:56):
want to make sure that people are safe. So Kylie,
here's how it's going to go. We've got about four
and a half minutes to run through as many tips
for parents when they're taking the kids to the beach
as possible to make it as wonderfully, fabulously super as possible,
but also as safe as possible. I've got a huge
list of things because I love taking the kids to
the beach. I think that I'm the pro and the
(01:17):
family with this, but I reckon you're gonna have a
few things to add. You're looking at me like you
don't believe me.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I can't wait to hear your list.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay, Number one, leave early, so you can leave early.
What I mean by that is if you don't live
near the beach, which has been our experience for a
long long time. When you go to the beach and
you leave at like nine o'clock in the morning, like
everybody else, you sit in traffic forever as you're trying
to get to the coast, and then you get there
and there's nowhere to park, and then you get out
of the beach and it's hot, and the sands sticky
(01:45):
and horrible, and it's absolutely packed, and it's just not
a very pleasant day, which is why people don't like
going to the beach. Plus the wind is up. The
wind is horrible at the beach. My number one tip
is leave early, like, get to the beach around I
don't know as early as you possibly can. I'm gonna
say seven. But some people might think that that's just rude.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well, in Queensland, I don't think it is at all.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
No, no, no, But the whole idea is get there early.
When you get there early, you get a park, but
you also miss the heat of the sun.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, but you also pretty much have the beach to
yourself pretty much. So when you're dealing with young children,
it's so much easier to superfice them when you're not
having to share the beach with a bajillion other.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
People one hundred percent. And then you can also leave early,
which means you can jump back in the car at
about nine o'clock or ten o'clock or eleven o'clock, whatever
it is. When everyone else is arriving after they've just
sat in traffic for two hours to get there, and
you're like, we've had a full day. The kids are
absolutely zonked, whether they're two or twelve or even in
their late teens, they're like that was great, and you
(02:41):
can kind of Breathe easy, you've already had a great day,
get home in time for lunch. You're not spending a
fortune on food at the beach. It just works early.
So my number one tip leave early so you can
leave early, not that you want to leave, but if
you're going to go, get there early so you can
enjoy it at as best and then you can come
home early before it's not as nice. That's that's really
what it is. Number two, kids were young.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, my number one love for the beach with swimming caps.
Bright colored swimming caps for the kids. I could see
them from a mile away and I knew exactly where
they were at all times.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
The same with the bright rashies. Right, so brilliant idea.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Well, dogs don't They actually don't stand out as much
as you think they will.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
But the rashes, like if you get a really glaringly
lairy one, they can. But the swimming cap.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
And it only really works obviously for young children, because
as soon as kids work out that no one else
is wearing them, it's harder to convince them to wear them.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
But they may That's when you need to supervise them
the most difference. Okay, my next tip, cool cabanas. You
can't take mine, not sponsored, but seriously, instead of those
beach umbrellas that blow away, and instead of the cabanas
that are really all the.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
This is literally the best beach investment we've made.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yep. The smaller ones are like one hundred and fift
two hundred bucks. The big ones a obvious a little
bit dearer, but these things are that's They're the world's
easiest things to put up. They give you fabulous shade.
I love them, and I reckon that if you're going
to go to the beach, you want one, and I.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
It's literally a two minutes setup. It is so fast
to set up. The kids could set it up on
their own pretty much. It's so easy to do. And
the coverage is what I actually love the most. There
is always a full square no matter where you are.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Depending on the sun.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Well, no, you might not be sitting under it, you
might be away from it, but you've always got that
solid square of shade.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Which brings me my next one, which is rash shirts. Sunscreen,
like the Australian sun is horrendously bad. A couple of
times this summer I've been burnt because I've only been
outside for fifteen twenty maybe thirty minutes, and haven't covered
up properly.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, you can tell that we're actually out of practice
because we haven't lived near the beach for so long.
Because you don't usually get burnt, but you've come home
a number of times and I'm.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Like, what is going on? Yeah, my bottom lip fell
off because it got sunburned. I didn't get kissed for
a week and a half. It was horrible. My next one, flags,
excuse me, hello, flags and supervision. Flags and supervision, like,
just don't turn your back on your kids, don't leave
it to the lifeguards. Please watch your kids and make
sure they're swimming inside in between those flags. Absolutely critical
(05:11):
from a safety point of view. Just has to be done. Okay, sorry,
I went, but it's your turn.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Now you're going to let me talk.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Still got a few more? Can I do my next one? No, Okay,
when you're ready.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
We've got one dry towels, a good one, not necessarily
any brand in particular, but just when I have six
children that I'm dragging along to the beach and they
all have their big fluffy towels, that's a huge amount
of stuff I've got to carry.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
When we were stuck in Queensland because of COVID restrictions.
A couple of years ago, we booked a holiday when
we could finally travel again and went to the Wit
Sundays for four or five days, and we forgot our towels.
The only place we could find towers was in one
of those chemists at Early Beach and they had those
quick dry towels. Since then, you've kept them in the
car that they get used all the time. There's such
(06:00):
a brilliant purchase.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
They take up less space. So the seven tails I
have take up less space than one fluffy towel H
takes up. And like you said, I just keep them
in the car and they're perfect, brilliant.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
I'm going to keep you warm, Okay, I'm going to
go with I'm going to go with my next one.
Take water and maybe even a few treats, especially if
you've got to travel. Costs a fortune when you have
to stop and no one wants to stop it. You
don't have to stop at a supermarket on the way
of the beach. Make sure you've got some stuff in
the car, some fruits, some water, some nuts, maybe even
a less healthy snack as well, depending on how your
family rolls, and it just makes the trip more enjoyable.
(06:34):
Choose a great playlist that everyone can agree on, and
just get to the beach with that water because you
will want it once you're there.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And my last one is go with friends.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Oh I had that?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Always fun more fun if you've got someone to go with.
Take a frisbee, take a cricket ball.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
And bad if you want, or yeah, excess orriz.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, it's always more fun and it requires less brain
power from you as a parent if there's other people there.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Volleyball and a soccer ball for the same purpose down
at the beach. The kids love to kick and throw
and hit those balls around and it's just great. I've
got three more really quickly. We're out of time, so
I'm going to do it very fast.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
You look at me like I told your five minute
podcast is.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Now we're at about seven and a half minutes. But
don't give me a hard time about it. It's worth it.
What are you last? Three boogie boards or surfboards, just
even with the little kids. Take them. But as a
follow up to that, part B of that is, don't
push your kids into situations where they're going to be
scared in the waves. You can push boundaries later when
they're older and they understand how the ocean works a
bit more. But having those boards, having the float, he's
(07:33):
having something to catch waves on is such a thrill
for kids. It's so much fun. And my last one
is if you can pay for surfing lessons, go to
a beach where there's a little surf school. Pay the
small amount of money, little cost for those surfing lessons.
The kids will become more familiar with the ocean. They'll
get a real thrill out of writing those great big surfboards.
(07:54):
You'll have somebody experienced to guide you. And I just
think there are I think they're a great way for
kids to enjoy the beach and take the pressure off
you a little bit as.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Well, and learn to read the ocean.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah maybe not on surf lesson number one, but over time, Yeah,
a lot of fun. We hope that those beach tips
are fun for your beach days as we make our
way through summer. Thanks so much for listening to the
Happy Families podcast. Back tomorrow with some road trip tips
on the Happy Families Podcast Summer series
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