Children absorb the emotional atmosphere of the adults around them long before they can explain it.

They do not only experience summer through their own eyes. They experience it through ours too.

We measure summer by the highlights. The trips, the big days, the photographs. And those things are genuinely worth celebrating.

But the summers I look back on most warmly are not the ones with the most impressive itinerary. They are the ones where I was actually present in the ordinary moments.

If we have started to think of a child as anxious, we may notice every moment of worry and miss the tiny flashes of courage. Not because we are bad parents. Not because we are not paying attention. Because that is what minds do…they look for evidence that confirms the story they already know.

But summer strips away the school-year context and shows you a different version of your child. One that does not always fit neatly into the story you have been carrying since September.