Have you ever wanted to hit a child?
I did today. Yep, child abuse was almost committed on the beaches of Dubrovnik, Croatia.
That child was 10-years-old. His gang of friends started playing ball five feet from my towel. After getting splashed, trampled, and hit with their tennis ball at least 12 times in an hour, all tolerance was gone. The next time that tennis ball struck me in the noggin’ and came to rest a few inches from my shoulder, I rolled on top of it.
When I woke up 15 minutes later, a crowd of 10-year-olds were clustered around my towel talking nervously in Croatian. If I had been a man, there would have had no qualms about reaching underneath me and retrieving the ball. But since that ball was now wedged under a pair of breasts, they didn’t know what to do.
After a few minutes, I started to feeling like a bonafide a-hole, so I relented and returned the ball.
Since that encounter in Dubrovnik, children have been everywhere.
Screaming in the surf. Throwing temper tantrums in the streets. Squabbling over who gets to play with Teddy Bear. Stomping their feet. And generally making me thankful that I don’t have any kiddos, yet.
Sometimes, I don’t feel like a real woman because I’d rather travel and write than be a parent.
On my list of Eight Things I Wish I’d Known When I was 18, I list as #2: “There are absolutely no rules to the game of life.” But living life by your own rules, by what feels right to you, is difficult. There are days when being a childless woman nearing 30 makes me feel weird, even though I know I’m following my dreams.
But, more on Dubrovnik. It is a city in southern Croatia along the Adriatic Sea.
With a population of only 44,000, Dubrovnik has a rather laid back feel and is a great place to wile away a couple of weeks. The city is known for the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, a 45-day cultural event that features concerts, plays and athletic events.
