If I didn't have children, summer might have remained just a memory

It is still the rainy season, but the scent of mosquito coils has started to drift from here and there.

When I smell this, I feel excited, thinking that summer is coming while at the same time, various summer memories flash back, making me feel sentimental.

Summer vacation used to feel like it would last forever.

I played with my friends every day without ever getting bored.

The morning glory I brought home.
Radio calisthenics.
The rhinoceros beetle my brother caught.
The big public pool.
School pool opening days.
Summer festivals where I hoped to see the person I liked.
An unfamiliar yukata.
Lemon-flavored shaved ice.
Regional trips.
Daisuki! Itsutsugo.
Followed by Kids War.
Family camping trips.
Neighborhood association barbecues.
Test of courage events.
Koshien games that made me cry.
Reruns of Touch.
Fireworks festivals.
Visiting graves during Obon.
Remaining homework and independent research projects.
The chirping of evening cicadas.
Cicada shells.

Every day, I was excited wondering what I should do.
It was so much fun.


Now that I am an adult, I am chased by daily work and chores, and summer ends in an instant.

Even so, thanks to my two children,
I feel grateful to be able to relive those fun summer memories.

If it were just my husband and me,
we would never have gone out of our way to go to crowded summer festivals,
remembered the smell of a plastic pool,
or played with handheld fireworks.

If I didn't have children, summer might have remained just a memory.

This year, various festivals are resuming.
I wonder where we should all go.

Thinking about it now, the reason I have so many fun summer memories is thanks to the adults around me.

Now it is our turn to give back to our children.

I hope we can create many fun summer memories for our children as well.