When the "summer break block" returns to the "retirement block
Summer, many people jokingly call it the season of "summer break blocks" returning to meet "retirement blocks". Before the day the children returned to their hometown, Mrs. To Thi Nu (Hung Yen) had washed the blankets and tidied up two small rooms on the 2nd floor.
Outside the yard, Mr. Tran Thai Lien - her husband tries trees, checks the children's bicycle that has been stored in the corner since last summer.
Both grandparents knew that in just a few days, the two "little princesses" of their youngest daughter, Ms. Ngan Giang (Hanoi), would return to their hometown for summer vacation. The second son - Mr. Hau, whose house is not far away, also took his children to his grandparents and played with their younger siblings.
A few days before the grandchildren came home, the two grandparents kept reminding each other. What to buy for the grandchildren today, what to set up tomorrow. The feeling of excitement is no different from waiting for Tet," Mrs. Nu smiled gently.
On the day the children returned, the small house in Hung Yen seemed to wake up after many months with only two old people. The yard was filled with laughter. The tea table in front of the house became a place for the four siblings to lie down and listen to grandma tell stories, the meal was more lively with whispering stories and even the times the children competed to ask grandparents to "decide".
For the past few years, every summer, Ms. Ngan Giang has taken her two daughters to her parents' hometown. Initially, she only hoped that her children would have a different vacation from the days spent in the apartment in the middle of the city. But what moved her the most was the joy of her parents.
I see my parents become much happier. The house has the sound of children, so it's always bustling. Grandparents are busier, more tired, but their spirits are also completely different," she shared.
In the days when he had grandchildren, his grandparents' lives also changed. Early in the morning, Mr. Lien took the grandchildren along the village road, pointing to the rice field, longan trees in front of the yard or the white stork flock at the end of the field. In the afternoon, he repaired the paper kite he had stored from last summer and took the grandchildren to the field at the beginning of the village. One day, the grandparents and grandchildren sat playing ô ăn quan, ball shooting - games that were once associated with the childhood of himself and his grandchildren's parents.
In the small kitchen, Mrs. Nu patiently guided the children to wash rice, pick vegetables, pick mint in the garden and then roll spring rolls together.
For grandparents, summer is synonymous with busier days. Having to wake up early, cook more dishes, and follow active children from morning to night.
After summer, the children return to their parents, and the house is empty again. The two grandparents eating rice looking at each other also miss their laughter. Old age does not expect much. Every summer, hearing the children call'Grandpa, Grandma', taking them to the field to fly kites, that's enough to be happy," Mrs. Nu confided.
When children bring three generations together
Children not only bring joy to grandparents but also unintentionally change the rhythm of life of parents.
Ms. Giang recounted that before, there were busy weeks to the point of only having time to call and ask parents a few questions and then return to work. Returning to the countryside is also not easy when there is still a child's study schedule and many other tasks.
But since the day my two children took summer vacation in the countryside, everything has changed. The calls have been longer, not only asking about their health but also telling stories of their children's studies, stories of this year's longan garden bearing fruit or the rain that just flooded the field.
Many days when I call home, I intend to talk to my child for five minutes, but in the end I sit and talk to my parents for an hour. On weekends, my family takes advantage of going back to my hometown to visit my child and have dinner with my parents, instead of returning every few months as before," she said.
Not only adults, for children growing up in the city, summer in the countryside opens up a completely different world.
The children follow their grandmother to the market, fly kites with her, play ô ăn quan with their cousins, or run and jump in the fields - increasingly rare experiences in the city.
More importantly, it is also a time for them to understand more about their own family.
Through grandparents' stories about their parents' childhood, about the house, garden or old photos, children gradually know where they come from and become more attached to their roots.
Unlike Ms. Giang, Mr. Tran Nguyen currently lives and works in Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa). Geographical distance makes it no longer easy to bring his two children back to his hometown.
I regret that my children do not have much time to spend with their grandparents like in their childhood. The thing I remember most when I was young was not what I ate, where I went, but the afternoons following my grandfather to the fields, and listening to my grandmother tell stories in the evening. I also hope my children have such memories," he said.
In fact, not every family has the conditions to take their children back to their hometown every summer or grandparents are still healthy enough to take care of their grandchildren for a long time. The important thing is not how long they stay together, but the time the members really spend together.
Then summer also closed. Mr. Lien's yard returned to its usual quiet. But the laughter of the children, the gathering meals or the kite swaying on the field will remain in the memories of all three generations.
And more than family bonding, the summers of returning to the countryside, growing up in grandparents' arms will become beautiful childhood memories, following the "summer vacation block" throughout the journey of maturity, so that in the future, every time they remember, everyone will have a homeland and a home to love and remember.
