I’m going to be brutally honest here and as a mother of a 1.5 year old and 3 year old, I do not enjoy going to the beach with my children. I live a block from the beach and I get stressed even thinking about the idea of it. In the past I have lasted maybe two hours max and usually leave with high blood pressure and a pending divorce (more on that later…….)

BUT if you must pretend that going to the beach with toddlers and babies is fun, I have found some things that make the experience better. One of them is a giant bottle of wine in a concealed travel coffee cup and the others are these items below. I mean if nothing else you can get a really adorable photo of your kid eating sand in a pair of cute sunglasses.

1. Brush on sunscreen

This a godsend because my children hate being lathered and the sand doesn’t stick to the powder sunblock so thats another win. Also you just have to go into it knowing that there will be sand consumed, sand in butt cracked, sand in eyes, and in all body cracks and crevices for a while.

2. An easy to assemble, simple tent. Do not get the tent everyone loves (mostly men who like to impress others with their building skills).that weighs down with sand bags unless you live somewhere where there is zero wind. Here is a photo of my attempt at that.