How to Treat a Jellyfish Sting

Curious Girl had another fun day at the beach, but it ended with a jellyfish sting that had her in some discomfort--she was hopping up and down, crying a bit, saying "it's stingy! it stings!" The lifeguards told us to rub wet sand on it, so Politica did that, and we eventually sat down near the waves, building a little leg rest of wet sand so that she could rest the backs of legs on the wet sand and we could make guesses about which waves would actually get all the way up to us. Whether it was the sand or the distractions that helped, she started to feel a bit better, and was considerably cheered by the promise that when we got back home, she could watch a movie. And it turns out that what will really help someone (or at least a certain someone) with a jellyfish sting feel better is the Muppet Show.

This may come as no surprise to some readers of this blog, who are well aware of the general fabulousness of the Muppets. But it was really fun to snuggle into the couch and turn on The Muppet Show and watch Curious Girl start to giggle. (Great credit goes to Politica, who put dinner on while I tended the Muppetfest.) When Miss Piggy came on, CG looked very thoughtful and finally said, "Mama, she's so beautiful!" (side note: Politica came in and said, "OMG, she looks like WellKnown Grad Professor!") CG giggled, watched, asked questions, admired Liberace's jewelry, laughed at Lola Falana's outfit, and then at bedtime was full of questions about why Gonzo was looking for a new job and why Lola was singing him songs (I assured her that his new job in Bombay fell through, and he'd be back on later episodes).

Not bad, a vacation in a beach house with wonderful video library. Just the cure for jellyfish stings.