Summer Is in the Bag

There are Goldfish crumbs at the bottom of the pool bag. It’s an impractical pool bag, cotton so it soaks up water, but it has a nautical stripe and a little plastic anchor hanging from the handle, aquatic in style if not in function. I got it as a gift for my first daughter, and it came with a pair of newborn flip-flops the size of two peanuts and about as practical as a cotton pool bag.

There are always Goldfish crumbs at the bottom of the pool bag, along with a Mermaid Barbie in need of a keratin treatment and a Paw Patrol pup who specializes in water rescues. There are more pristine bags, made of silicone with holes for draining, and more pristine parents who pack them with proper snacks and embroidered towels. But I prefer a haphazard approach, as my children learn ingenuity and contentment in the face of life’s first mixed bag.

About the Author

Mary Katharine Ham

Mary Katharine Ham is an author, speaker, and Fox News contributor who hosts the podcasts Getting Hammered and Normally.

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There are Goldfish crumbs at the bottom of the pool bag. It’s an impractical pool bag, cotton so it soaks up water, but it has a nautical stripe and a little plastic anchor hanging from the handle, aquatic in style if not in function. I got it as a gift for my first daughter, and it came with a pair of newborn flip-flops the size of two peanuts and about as practical as a cotton pool bag.

There are always Goldfish crumbs at the bottom of the pool bag, along with a Mermaid Barbie in need of a keratin treatment and a Paw Patrol pup who specializes in water rescues. There are more pristine bags, made of silicone with holes for draining, and more pristine parents who pack them with proper snacks and embroidered towels. But I prefer a haphazard approach, as my children learn ingenuity and contentment in the face of life’s first mixed bag.