I still remember clearly the days when I was a child living in a collective housing area, eagerly preparing with my peers to go on vacation with my parents' agency. That was one of the two occasions in the year (along with the Mid-Autumn Festival) when the children in the collective housing area were the main characters in the dessert party held in the yard of the collective housing area's kindergarten. After the meeting, the children would return home to sleep early to prepare to gather in the yard of the kindergarten early the next morning, and get on the bus to Cua Lo. For many children in the collective housing area, that was the only time they could travel in the year, even though the beach was only more than 15 kilometers from Vinh City. On the road full of stars and moon, we chatted animatedly. Some of them even regretted why there was only one summer a year. If only there were 4 summers a year, they would have 4 trips to the beach...
Summer vacation in many cities, the most visible images are children's playgrounds and crowded KFCs. Many parents still know the meaning of "summer vacation" but click their tongues, why go somewhere far, hot in the sun, expensive. Just go to a place that is convenient for the child, "for the taste" is enough. And most modern children have summer vacations with the aroma of KFC, the cool air of the cinema, and then certainly cannot leave an impression when they grow up.
There are parents in the city like some of my old friends from Trung Do Residential Area, who still talk excitedly about their old trips to the beach and always plan an interesting vacation for their children on this occasion. That is the occasion when the children in the family have the right to choose their own interesting journey.
My father is a farmer in the city, attached to the coal-carrying vehicle all year round. Every summer weekend, he often asks his children: "Where are we going to play today?" And without much effort, the father and children will scrub the coal-carrying cyclo clean, spread a small mat on it, sit on the cyclo and leisurely go to the suburbs to see lotus flowers and rice fields. When they are bored, they will stop at the cake shop next to Vinh Citadel gate or at Mrs. Lien's yogurt and cake shop near our house to eat their fill when it is just getting dark. My father always smiles brightly when paying - small coins covered in coal dust. When the children grow up, even the neighborhood boys and girls can enjoy the joy of that special day on the coal-carrying cyclo. For the children, the trips are not memorable in terms of distance - near, rich - poor, but in terms of the joy they are treated to and the scenery they see. There are not many sights, the children in the countryside want to go to the city, the children in the city want to go back to the countryside, to the suburbs, changing the way of seeing with the eyes of a child is also a great joy.
My friend, a doctor who is busy with surgeries all year round, never misses a few days off for the sole purpose of being with his child. The most frequent “summer trip” of the father and child is to ride their bicycles together to the riverbank to enjoy the breeze, watch the sunset, and then ride their bicycles back. A royal poinciana tree in full bloom along the road, a few adorable cats and dogs they happen to meet… are enough to make their trip more lively. The journey is the same every day, but it never ceases to be interesting when both father and child understand that just having time together is precious. You said, every adult was once a child. Perhaps that is why children need to be shared with, loved, and cherished by adults because they help us reflect on our childhood souls in them.
“Children are like buds on a branch” – They are simply buds in life, but each child is a miniature world with many interesting things. And only when you explore the world of children with a feeling of affection, closeness, and love, will you receive more sincere feelings.
Where will we go this summer?
