When will I learn?

So this week I will have my birthday and officially turn OLD. You would think that someone 50 years old wouldn't have to keep learning the same lessons over and over again. Yet I am still having to learn the lesson of proper sunscreen application.

When I grew up my parents had a boat and all summer long I was having to relearn the importance of putting sunscreen on shoulders, thighs, feet and ears. I knew the places that the sunscreen needed to go, I just didn't always get it there.

Then I had children and I learned the lesson over and over again, that sunscreen was the most important thing to do and it shouldn't be done on the fly. Also, it needed to be reapplied throughout the day and to be rubbed ALL over several times to make sure every inch was covered.

I learned that you don't just slap some sunscreen on your hand and then try to put it on your own back - you will end up with a white hand print and a burned back.

I learned that spray sunscreen still needs to be rubbed in - I had little white dots all over my body.

So when I took Preston skiing over spring break and we had a beautiful sunny, clear day - I knew that it was really important to use sunscreen. (I have been burned really bad from skiing - I also know that you never ask the lift operator how he got so tan and then use his suntan oil when spring skiing.)

We were late getting to Snowbowl and anxious to get on the slopes. I hastily put on some sunscreen and thought I had done a good job. But at the end of the day when we returned to the car, I noticed that my chin was burned - oops, forgot my chin. I also noticed that I hadn't quite gotten the sunscreen clear over to my ears - oops, line down my cheek. And I didn't get my neck down to the top of my turtleneck - oops, line around the middle of my neck.

I looked like some freak with white lines and splotches all over my face. Oh well, after all it was only my FACE! (At least it didn't have blisters like the time I used the lift operator's suntan oil). You really would think I would have learned the sunscreen lesson by now,but I was only 49 when all this happened and maybe once I turn 50 I will be smarter.