Sailing complaints.

I went sailing with friends this weekend. Usually it's a group of us ranging from 27-40 in age, singles and couples. We all drink a little beer, sail around the bay and generally have a great time. But the guy who organizes these trips (who has the most sailing experience and belongs to a sailing club, so thus gets us discounts on the boat) had a child with his wife a few years ago. So now, I'm noticing that each trip progressively adds more children to the boat.

This weekend it was six. Six children under the age of four. Surprisingly, there weren't much tantrums or bad behaving. Everyone had fun, even though it was really windy and we couldn't get the boat sailing fast because the kids got scared. I really had a nice time.

But, it wasn't as fun as the other trips. It was way more tame, there was less interesting conversation, and I ended up feeling at the end like something was lacking. I don't think there was actually something lacking, but really it was just different in a way I didn't enjoy. 

I love kids, they're fun and incredibly interesting. I like talking to them and listening to how they work out the world around them. But, I'm finding less in common with those friends of ours that have kids. Not for lack of trying, but their lives are just so different than ours that it's becoming increasingly difficult to relate to them. 

I guess I'm less bothered by the kids and more saddened that the non-kid folk were not there. I have more in common with them, I don't get asked repeatedly when I plan on having children, and there's less mess to clean up after we're all done. Because I was one of the few people not herding a child off the boat, I was stuck cleaning up after everyone's kid spilled their food all over the floor, as well as putting away all the parents' food / juice boxes. It was a little annoying, because if my dogs made a mess I'd clean it up immediately - there wouldn't be a mess left at the end of the day in the first place.

Maybe next time I need to check who is coming before I commit to the event. Because it's not like I didn't have fun, I just didn't have so much fun as to warrant spending $60 on a day with six young children screeching and squealing every few minutes. 

Or maybe I'm just a grump and am cranky because there's a no pet-rule for renting the boat, which means I can't bring my dogs. Stupid no-pet rule.