March sure was one weird month. The meteorological station recorded it as a month with the highest rainfall in what was supposed to be a stretch of bright, sunny four weeks

So when the sun emerged from behind the rain clouds endless days of downpour, I was at last able to take Ethan, my three-year-old, for a dip in the pool.

Like every other weekend, we lugged his swimming 'stuff' and toys to the poolside. But this time, I had a new children's sun protection lotion that my colleague handed me the other day.

Ethan doesn't like traces of any kind of lotion on his skin, so with long-lasting water resistance and a blend of special film-forming agents and special waxes, the Nivea Sun Children's Sun Lotion SPF 50 promised a better "spread-ability" without the sticky, greasy feeling.

Upon application, he made his usual pleas of "make it disappear, make it disappear." At least he didn't protest, which is what he usually does with potions that he has taken a dislike to. And he was soon splashing about quite happily.
And just the other day, I took him for another swim again.

This time, I put an extra thick layer of the lotion on his nose this time, just like how cricketers and sailors have that white stripe running down the length of their nose.

I personally thought the sunblock lotion smelled rather sweet. But when I asked him how it smelled, he replied 'nice', in the way that three-year-olds with short attention spans do.

So all went pretty well. Ethan did not get burnt, and there was not much protest - from him - during application. And with all this talk about global warming and the incidence of skin cancer on the rise, his young delicate skin needed all the protection against sun burn and long term skin damage.

Plus, after a couple of free modelling assignments, daddy was eager to get him some paying contracts to help in the funding of his future education. Of course his skin needed to be in good condition.

And as for the promises of smooth and supple skin that were printed on the bottle? Ah, national service should soon take care of that!

NIVEA Sun Children’s Sun Lotion SPF 50 retails for $23.30 (125ml) and is available at Watsons, Guardian, Cold Storage, NTUC FairPrice outlets and leading supermarkets.