Staying Cool, Kid-Style

Children can find plenty of ways to stay cool in the summertime heat if adults will just get out of their way. All that’s needed is a water source, something cold to drink, and maybe knowing where your mama keeps her change purse.

As hard as it is for me to admit, I had an air-conditionless existence until I was maybe 6 or 7 years old. That’s right. When I was very young, a Southern summer childhood was at the mercy of an electric fan and the sheer benevolence of an adult willing to plug the thing in, turn it on, and let it blow on you. Yeah, a whole line of iffy situations. Seems we got the use of the fan at naptime, after we had a bellyful of Campbell’s vegetable soup, a tomato sandwich, and Hi-C orange drink, just as added nap-insurance. Beyond that, a little kid had to fight for fan frontage time.

Fortunately, mamas liked their kids to play outside - whatever the temperature - so if we got permission (and sometimes if we didn’t), we could turn on the outdoor spigot and play in the hose. As long as you didn’t get knocked in the teeth with the metal nozzle or get water sprayed straight up your nose, a good time could be had by all. Holding the hose straight up made an instant shower. Coiling it up, then then letting it go, caused all sorts of unpredictable sprays, twists, and turns. Oooh, the water snake!

Eventually, we graduated to a super-deluxe backyard pool. By super-deluxe, I mean a sparkling aqua-colored plastic sheet draped over a 2-foot high white fence-type thing. The bottom had a diamond design of black, blue, and white. It took forever to fill  the thing up, but I’m telling you, nothing Esther Williams ever had was a fine as our beautiful blue pool. It seemed huge at the time; I’m sure it would be laughable now. But water and kids and sun can co-mingle for long time, and we were very happy little campers. I don’t remember Mother watching us – she was inside doing whatever mothers do. Yes. Pure child endangerment/neglect. Thank God.

Still, there’s more to staying cool than water-immersion. That’s where Kool-Aid and Fizzies came in. Seems like they were always in plentiful supply – a little goes a long way for a kid – so we’d sit in a swing or on the picnic table and have our treat. Anyway, those purple and orange Kool-Aid moustaches washed off after a few minutes in our sparkling backyard pool.

Sometimes, though, in late afternoon/early evening we’d hear that glorious sound – the bells or music of the Hunky Man (that’s what we called the truck that came around with popsicles, push-ups, and nutty-buddies). Chaos ensued, as some of us   waved him down, while others ran inside to plead for enough dimes to cover the charge for our confections. The perfect way for a kid to stay cool on a summer afternoon.

So think back on how you liked to cool off in the summer when you were little, and share that with the little ones in your life. Even if you have a real, in-the-ground Esther Williams swimming pool, break out the garden hose or sprinkler sometime. Just don’t let the nozzle hit you in the teeth. And remember to wash off your purple Kool-Aid moustache.