Before we go any further, here’s what I want to say about skin cancer. *Insert sound of soapbox scraping across stage here*. Eighty per cent of the damage that causes skin cancer happens before you’re 19. So if you’re a zygote or parent of a zygote and you ever consider going outside or sending your child outside without sunscreen and a hat, then I want you to pause and think about this image:
I’ll leave the image for those who care to click through.
Margie is a lot more diligent about slathering the sunscreen on Kitten than I am, mostly because I hate using the stuff myself, but I need to step up to that.
And, all this summer (and, I anticipate, from here on out), I wear a hat when I go out for my lunchtime walks. Virtuous on so many levels …
Anyway, food for thought as summer winds down.
Which is why no matter how much he squirms, I slather the boy if he’s going to be exposed any length of time. Some scoff at my near rabid vigilance, but when you’ve got 4 out of 5 risk factors you get that way.
***Dave, I’m so glad to read that you take such good care of Katherine.
It was different when I was a kid. I remember getting several of those sunburns that were so bad that you blistered … people thought nothing of it. It was all just part of kids, beach/pools and summer.
It killed me to post such an ugly picture on-line. But I figured if it scared even one zygote or parent of a zygote into better sun awareness, then the humiliation was completely worth it. Trust me, you never want to go through this.
Indeed.
I got burned and peeled a lot as a kid — never blistering, but certainly enough to be red and peely. That’s Just What Kids Did back then. Fortunately, so far, so good, but Margie keeps an eye on me (“for the sake of your health,” she insists). I probably got exposed less than most, though, just because I get hot too easily and prefer sitting in the shade. Now I make sure I wear a brimmed hat, at the very least, if I’m going to be out in the sun for any length of time. Similar bouts for my Dad and Margie have given me a decent modicum of religion on the subject, even if I still despise applying sun screen.