As mums, we have a way of carrying the weight of summer on our shoulders.
We wonder if we’re doing enough. We scroll through photos of extravagant holidays and perfectly planned activities and quietly ask ourselves if our children are getting the magical summer they deserve.
Should we have signed them up for more camps?
Planned bigger adventures?
Said yes to one more outing?
But if you asked your children what summer looked like through their eyes, I don’t think their answers would be nearly as complicated.
They won’t remember whether the house was spotless.
They won’t remember if dinner came from a drive-thru because everyone was too tired to cook.
They won’t remember that you forgot the beach towels and had to dry them off with old T-shirts from the boot of the car.
Instead, they’ll remember the feeling of being little.
They’ll remember chasing fireflies as the sun dipped below the trees. The sticky sweetness of popsicles dripping down their arms. Running through sprinklers in the back garden while you shouted for them to avoid the flower beds.
They’ll remember staying up just a little too late to finish one more chapter of a favourite book.
They’ll remember movie nights piled together under blankets. The smell of sunscreen. Catching frogs. Picking wildflowers. The excitement of hearing the ice cream truck turn onto the street.
Because you laughed at their jokes.
Because you kissed skinned knees.
Because you pushed them on the swings.
Because you watched them jump into the pool for the hundredth time and cheered just as enthusiastically as you did the first.
Children don’t measure summer by how much money was spent or how many boxes were ticked off a bucket list. They measure it in moments, The ordinary ones.
The ones we often overlook because we’re too busy trying to create extraordinary memories.
One day, these summers will look different.
The toddlers who begged you to blow bubbles will become teenagers sleeping until noon. The little hands reaching for yours at the playground will eventually let go as they discover who they are meant to become.
The toys scattered across the garden will disappear.
The endless requests for snacks will quiet.
The backseat chatter on family drives will fade.
And while that thought can tug at our hearts, it also reminds us of something important:
This summer doesn’t have to be perfect… It just has to be lived.
So say yes to the extra cuddle.
Take the long way home.
Eat ice cream before dinner every now and then.
Leave the dishes in the sink long enough to catch the sunset.
Hand your phone to someone else and step into the photographs.
Because years from now, your children won’t be searching for proof of a perfect summer.
They’ll be looking for evidence that you were there.
And they will find it in the memories you made together… the messy, ordinary, beautiful moments that felt small at the time, but somehow became everything.
So here’s your gentle reminder, Mama:
You’re already creating the summer they’ll remember.
Not because you’re doing it perfectly.
But because you’re doing it with love.
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