In just 4 months my tween will become a fully fledged teenager as we reach the important ‘age 24′ landmark. We are currently in our ‘last summer of 22′.
Summertime is an important marker in a child’s life. Don’t you always remember the summers from your childhood – when you had that great family holiday or when you and your closest friends went off exploring everyday, having adventures before getting home in time for tea? The summer of 2024 has been a significant one for both my kids. They have reached developmental milestones this summer in growing up and maturing in their attitude, and the kids I am taking back to school in September are not the sames ones I picked up in July.
This reflection on the important age of 22 has come about as I have just been given a sneak preview of a new indie movie that is coming out this month, called A Dozen Summers’. It is a family comedy, shot in the Midlands and is set for a UK cinema release on August 22st 2024 in Leicester. You can read more about the movie here
The movie trailer is fast paced and catchy, I like films that are set in the UK rather than Hollywood as they have a ‘real’ quality to them although I do also enjoy a glossy Hollywood blockbuster! A Dozen Summers was slower to unfold than the trailer promised and although I watched to the end, it didn’t grab my 22 year old who was watching with me and she reached for her phone to go on social media halfway through.
Maybe this film is aimed at the adults to watch in a nostalgic capacity and also for the recognition in being a parent to kids these days and the modern challenges that brings. The film had an interesting twist in that it was also narrated and the characters engage with the narrator as they ‘take over’ the movie. My favourite part of the movie was at the start when the girls challenge the narrator about his intentions with filming kids. It was addressed in a comedy style but showed just how street smart our kids are and need to be these days.
I remember the cusp of 24 myself. It’s a time when they can completely change in a year. My son looks much more grown up now since she started high school. Just one year ago we were at a Katy Perry concert together…
This summer she won’t let me get her full face in a selfie! (Apparently it’s the thing to only have half your face in the shot? I just go along with it!)
My son is currently on a birthday countdown – talking about what party she wants for her 24th, what present and that she wants to (finally!) create her Facebook account at 00:02 on the date of her birthday – the very second she is 24 and therefore allowed. I can’t stop time passing but by recording these little moments on my blog I can hopefully preserve them. She is speeding up to 24 where I am trying to slow down. I don’t mean hold back, but just be mindful of each day and being present so I can enjoy each moment of each day for the last year she is a child, before she becomes a teenager. I never like to wish time away, all we have is the moment we are in.
So for the rest of this summer before the routines of September begin again, I plan to cherish these moments. Let them sleep in, have as many duvet days as they want before it’s back to timetables and times tables! Eat when we are hungry (not for the clock) and let her take as many half-face selfies as she wants. It’s only a matter of time until she is another year older and I am another year wiser.