Last week, I went to the lake with my parents. I tried to get my brother to bring his kids, but he said it was “too hot to go.”

That puzzled me, but then, my brother and I don’t think the same way so I just chalked it up to Michael being Michael.

We get there Friday around noon. I say, “Let’s eat lunch then head to the harbor.”

My parents both say, “It’s too hot to get on the lake.”

Huh?

We’re at THE LAKE. It’s a big body of water in which you dive into if you get too hot. We drive around on a boat that has a covered section and the wind hits us in the face. Since when did it become too hot to get on the lake?

After school yesterday, the kids ate their snack and did their homework. Rader asked his grandmother if he could go jump on the trampoline. I didn’t hear this or I would’ve said, “Sure, go. Have fun. Take some water…”

Nonnie said, “No. It’s too hot.”

He’s a kid! Sure it’s hot…but he’s a KID! They need to be outside! What the hell?

It was never “too hot” for us to be outside. Never. We would go tent camping for two weeks at a time in late July or early August. In 1980 we had 41 days over 100 degrees and 103 days of 90 degree weather. I played softball almost every day that summer. I was 11 years old. We just ate oranges and drank LOTS of water. My parents never once stopped letting me play outside or stopped me from playing softball because it was “too hot”. When did things change?

What do you think? I know it’s hot…but is it too hot to let the kids outside in the evening? Is it too hot to go to the lake? Is it EVER too hot to go to the lake? Really?