sunscreen—This goes very well. Rose is now competent enough to put on her own sunscreen and being an o.c. child she does a very thorough job—first the left leg, ankle to crotch, the right, the arms, the neck, behind the ears. . . Not only do I know she’s safe from sunburn, but it’s a good 10 minutes of independent play.

goggles—These cause a few more problems. Rose reminds me of Nomar Garciaparra. He’s the former Red Sox player who had to pull his gloves up five different ways before he was ready to bat. There are three kids in Rose’s swim class, and they take turns making their rocket ship arms and swimming out to the teacher. There’s a big pause when Rose is up because she has to adjust the front of her goggles, the back straps, now the front isn’t quite right.

popsicles—You’d think popsicles would be the nemesis of a child who wipes her fingers after every bite, but where there’s a will there’s a way. I make sure there’s a supply of paper towels handy, and she carefully licks her way down.