After the long winter months and the ups and downs of spring weather, we are clearly running headlong into the bright, sunny days of summer.

For kids, summer vacation is a well-deserved reward for all the hard work and irreplaceable time invested in the previous school year.

As adults, we can look back fondly on those golden days with a warm sense of nostalgia and a longing to return to the carefree days that linger now only in our memories. And yet, we can live those times again vicariously as we engage with the kids that will be making their own special memories.

Parents need to take as much time as they can to help make the summer break special and meaningful for their kids. Planning and taking a family vacation, even a simple weekend camping trip, can forge stronger bonds and create everlasting memories that could never be bought or traded with gadgets, games, or videos. Community activities are valuable, too, in making vacation time rewarding experience for all.

Likewise, we should encourage our youngsters to seek out those activities, on their own, that keep them engaged and active. Whether it is sports, arts activities, taking up a new hobby, or any number of other options that kids are able to enjoy. They should be made aware of how precious this time is and urged to make the most of it.

It may be nearly impossible to convince them of how important this is, but it is still our duty to try to do so nonetheless. They will, without question, thank us for it in the years to come.