I've given up...

Okay, don't panic. But I have given up.....on my quest for a tan. I remember my summer lifeguarding days in high school and college. I fancied myself tan, blonde and rather leggy. Now, I'm just highlighted, wearing capris to hide my veriscosities and incredibly white Norwegian. I always start the summer under the illusion that I may once again get that golden glow. After a few days spent at the pool or the lake, I achieved all that I could achieve this summer. Not a tan, not even a rosy glow, but only a minor pink hue. I've lost all my ability to turn what little melanin I have into a tan. I'm not the only one in my family to be pasty white. Both my sisters are (sorry guys), my mom used to be although she's the tannest of us all now, and my dad, well, only his forearms bear witness to the fact that he's been in the sun.

And now, it looks as if I've passed down the pastiness to my children. Gabe is a true tow head. White blonde hair in the summer, a touch of strawberry in the blonde the rest of the year. Ben, thankfully, inherited the Northrop olive tone and darker blonde. And Lyndee, well, she is perhaps the whitest baby I have ever seen! I am loyal to sunscreen and my kids have never had a burn, as white as they are. It's amazing stuff. And they really do have a bit of a tan, but only my husband and I can see the tan lines in the tub. And when the kids have declared, "It's naked time!" but that's another posting altogether. Until then, pasty whites, unite!