It came late this year, in fact almost a month late, but love it or hate it, summer is officially here.  So unless you live in a house with centralized air-conditioning or plan to move to the artic circle for the next two months, this means that the days, as well as nights, are going to be hot.

I know I have grown older when I catch myself looking at summer the way a parent would.  Aside from the heat, I start thinking about the expenses of summer, especially when vacations, excursions, and road trips are involved.  I have also started thinking about the way fun is had during the summer months, and get nostalgic at my memories but get extremely worried at the same time as I try to figure out just how kids these days have their dose of summer fun.

For the smaller grade school kids, I have the impression that kids these days see summer as an opportunity to get new high scores or finish the tougher levels in their PSP’s and PC’s , and I wonder if they still know how to play hide and seek, ride bikes all day long, or climb actual trees, but I’m hoping that maybe they will rediscover it and actually have fun in the process.  For parents, that kind of activity, which can involve cuts, scrapes, bruises, and torn clothes, may scarier that the thought of their children twiddling their thumbs away in a secure, sterile, and air-conditioned room, but hopefully there are still places in this city where kids can have good old fashioned fun, away from rampaging tricycle drivers, drunk drivers, pedophiles, rabid dogs, leptospirosis, carcinogens, and polluted air.

Medium kids, or those in high school and maybe even college, will probably be enjoying the summer break by spending as time as they can with their friends, building friendships that might last a lifetime, or exploring strong feelings that they will naively call love, and maybe trying all the bad stuff their parents told them not to indulge in like alcohol, smoking, maybe even drugs.  Another scary time for parents, but summer, like growing up, is something they just can’t control.   As parents, all we can do is hope and pray that we’ve taught the kids the right things that will help them survive adolescence in this day and age.

The bigger kids, those who have just started to earn their own money, will be enjoying summer in those places that are supposed to be cool and fun.  As a parent, it may even be a source of pride to see your children spend so foolishly if the kid is already paying for his or her own fun.  But those who are already going on their 3rd, 4th, or 5th installment of funding their children’s summer fun with friends in Boracay because their kid is still jobless and can’t afford to pay for his own fun are probably starting to worry.

Rookie parents like me, who are still enjoying comfortable summer outings because of the generosity of the grandparents of my offspring in sponsoring the trips, are silently counting the costs and wondering when I will be able to afford continue these summer traditions if I had to be the one who had to foot the bill.  I also wonder how the summers will be when my child becomes a small kid, medium kid, and big kid, and these fleeting thoughts worry me. But for now, I am happy to be lounging on a beach chair, ice-cold beer in hand, watching my young one squeal with delight as he frolics in an infinity pool.