Summertime According to Sky, Age 4

Summer is a time to play games like Star Wars Lego, baseball and soccer, too. It’s a time to watch movies together as a family, like “The Lego Movie.”

In the summer, I love to dance and play with Legos, and my favorite thing this summer is when we went to Long Beach. We played at a playground by the ocean. We played with our Frisbees. We went swimming. We went out in a boat and played at another playground by the ocean. We had lots of fun.

I love my mommy, and my favorite thing I did with her this summer is spray her back after she got a sunburn to help her feel better.

I love my daddy, and my favorite thing I did with him this summer is watch “The Lego Movie.”

I love my brother, and my favorite thing I did with him this summer is play games like bowling. We use toilet paper rolls for our bowling pins and (plastic) golf balls as our bowling ball, and we have so much fun.

Summertime According to Benjamin, almost 3

Summer is dirt, rocks, water, sand, flowers and waves. I also like to play bowling with my brother and love playing baseball with my daddy.

My favorite thing we did this summer was go to a baseball game and there were fireworks.

This week the boys wanted to help me write, and we decided on the theme of summertime. Sky even did some typing himself, so it went a bit slowly. I love that they take an interest in what I do, and I appreciated having the chance to view the summer through their eyes and understand what is most important and memorable for them.

For me, I’m enjoying the extra time we seem to have together as a family during the summer. I’m seeking to have a bit of a slower pace and am trying to soak in all of the little moments: simple moments like the two boys playing together really well – being nice, taking turns, helping each other; or extraordinary moments like the one we had this week when we were puttering around Harbor Cove in a paddle boat and a pod of dolphins crossed our path, weaving in and out of the water, jumping and splashing. It was truly amazing.

Lately this summer, news from around the world (Gaza and Israel, Syria, Iraq) and from right here at home (refugee children at the border and the negative response they are getting from many) makes me long for some good news. Then, I hear my boys share their favorite moments of the summer and remember the good that is right here in my life every day. I see friends sharing on Facebook that they are sending clothing or money to Catholic Charities and other organizations that are working to help those children at the border.

I see the words of a former colleague from my days doing work related to Middle Eastern studies. I see his efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together. I’m reminded to have hope. I’m reminded that compassion exists and that it matters – a lot. I embrace that goodness: the goodness all over the world and right here in my world.

Share some good news with me today. Share some good news with others. Be kind to someone in a way they might not expect. These simple things can make a big difference. They can lighten the load and brighten someone’s day, particularly when the headlines are covered with bad news. We can nudge the needle in the other direction by spreading some goodness around.

Jennifer Fischer is co-founder of the SCV Film Festival, a mom of two, an independent filmmaker and owner of Think Ten Media Group, whose Generation Arts division offers programs for SCV youth. She writes about her parenting journey on her blog, The Good Long Road. Her commentary is published Saturdays on SCVNews.com.