While my husband was pondering the metaphysical during our third family trip to Hatteras, I was thinking about things a bit more concretely.Sitting on the beach this year, holding a sleeping infant and watching my four-year olds play and splash, I realized I was thankful for three things:1. Four-year olds don’t eat sand.

2. Four-year olds don’t steal toys from random kids on the beach.

3. Four-year olds don’t wear swim diapers.

Next year we will be back in the thick of it when Wes starts shoveling fistfuls of sand into his mouth and taking purple shovels from innocent girls.

But this year I enjoyed the respite.