I wish I knew the history behind tubing. I don’t even have the time to research it right now. I wonder who first decided to remove the innards of a tire and put it to water. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a great idea. Where else can one feel comfortable toting a cooler full of Busch pounders in the great outdoors? A pastime that isn’t only forgivable, it’s encouraged.
All I know is that as a kid I loved tubing. Every year, my family would stay at a campground called Wading Pines. It was a great big campground surrounded by trees, trees tied together with rivers, rivers tied together with tubes.
There was the 30-minute tubing trip, the hour-long trip, and then there was the hardcore 3-hour plus tubing trip. I never went all hardcore, being too young and all. Plus, Swimmies were discouraged on that course. Not that the officials wouldn’t allow Swimmies on the course. To be honest, I can’t remember there being any official officials. Nope, it wasn’t about the Swimmies at all. Instead, I imagine that seeing an 8-year-old float by on an inner tube while wearing Water Wings doesn’t exactly do much along the river of masculinity, masculinity and inner tubes. Plus, how many 8-year-olds can buy beer?
I bring this up today because of my 3-month-old son and a device we have called a Boppy. It’s a must have for any parent. Even if you don’t plan on breastfeeding, I highly recommend grabbing a Boppy. They have a plethora of uses, so many, I’m certain I have yet to discover them all. Sometimes I use it to hold Emory. Sometimes I use it against my back. I’ve used it to sit on and not because I have any residual issues from delivery. They’re just nice to sit on.
And I know that the label specifically states “NO SLEEPING” but sometimes it just works out that way. Sometimes the little guy falls asleep in the Boppy (under strict parental guidance of course). We refer to this as “tubing” in our household. “Emory’s tubing again!” or “Look! Emory drank too much milk and passed out in his inner tube!” Tubing is by far my most favorite use we’ve found for the Boppy.
One good thing about tubing on a Boppy is that there aren’t ever any submerged tree branches to scratch your ass. There aren’t any mosquitoes or sudden drops. There’s never any reason to wear shoes. There aren’t any dark trails or snapping turtles, pollution, human shit, or duck feces. There are no leeches (and I’m not talking about the guy who steals all the beer). There’s no need to slather oneself in sunscreen. There’s no need for Water Wings or earplugs. And no one calls you a wimp if you’re on the 30-minute course.
It’s just him, a Boppy, and the open couch.
Part of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), where one writes every day for the month of November, which is easier said than done.
I love this picture of E. Sorry, I tend to use first letter. My little girl is “E” or “EM” for Emily. The boppy IS the swiss army knife of pillows. I don’t know why they say no sleeping, it’s GREAT for sleeping. E uses it to feed herself. She lays there and holds her bottle now. It’s great to be able to see her there and still be able to do the dishes.
I was very skeptical of said Boppy before I got one. Why on Earth would I need another pillow in a house full of pillows. Wouldn’t one of the others do? Well, 9 weeks in and I am a Boppy-junkie. The favorite use is for baby-napping (not for stealing small children despite how it sounds). And I bet that baby-napping maybe the #1 use of the Boppy (breastfeeding a close #2)…just product liability concerns make them use the big red “NO” sign over the word “Sleep”. Stinkin’ product liability…this thing puts babes to sleep in no time.
Ha! Baby-napping. That reminds me of this.
man that is the best photo. I totally was against the pillow before I read your post. Perhaps with segundo we will have to reconsider.
Not to mention, I bet Emory had WAY less beer than it would take to get a big 250-lb. dude to pass out like that in an inner tube. Just sayin’.
Oh yeah, the Boppy is a must-have when ya got a baby. We got one when Isabel was born. When Aubrey came along 5 years later we pulled it out of storage and are using it with her. I totally agree with Cefielder’s description of it being the swiss-army knife of pillows. It is a great tool to use when the babies are learning to sit. Plus I found it to be a good pillow to snuggle up to when watching T.V….Or you can always go the route as demonstrated by Emory of sleeping all sprawled out! :o) Beautiful photo!
Ah yeah…loved my bobby. I had the red one with the Noah’s Ark theme on it. Used it for both my boys. When Max outgrew it, I figured it still had a lot of life yet, so I offered it up on FreeCycle. I expected a new mom to snap it up. Was I surprised when a young woman took it for her Dad who was going through cancer treatment. Something about bone cancer and needing it to prop his arm up. She sent me an email a few weeks later to tell me it was the perfect thing (and she had tried a TON of different options). It really is a miracle pillow.
Hi,
I just sent you a question to your e-mail address but I figured I leave a note here as well, in case my mail gets lost in the spam filter or something.
I found a picture on a stop sign you took on a trip in May 2004 that I would like to use.
Kind Regards,
Jiang Millington
PS: You have a lovely son!
FANTASTIC photo. I would blow that up in to a mural and put it all over my living room wall if I had a shot that great. Thanks for putting that on here.
And thanks for the last post too. Rock on, sister friend.