Hey Ferb, I Know What We’re Gonna Do Today!

Is it just me, or do Phineas and Ferb get a longer summer vacation than the rest of us? I wish we got a hundred and four days! I know my kids do, too. As I’m writing this, we have already begun our third week of summer, which just doesn’t seem possible. My kids have already been to camp, and we’re counting down the days till our family reunion/vacation. Then it’s back to school!

The point? Summertime passes quickly. And so does childhood. We need to make the most of our time with our kids—to be truly intentional with it. And we need to encourage our kids to do the same.

I think about how Candace ends up wasting her entire summer in the show trying to bust her brothers (when she’s not swooning over Jeremy). And Mom and Dad only make rare appearances in their children’s lives. Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb are making the most of their summer vacation, asking daily, “What do you wanna do today?” Each day, they come up with a plan and execute it with greatness. And look at all they accomplish!

Okay, I know it’s not real. But there are still some good lessons in it for us. Let’s not let summer—or life—pass us by without doing some really great things with our families. They may not involve rocket ship dart games across the city or lemonade stands that go viral around town or even anything that requires power tools or large trucks (though they could)…but wouldn’t it be great if the memories we created with our families at least prompted a “Whatcha doooooin’?” from onlookers?

It’s not too late. Summer’s not over. So ramp up your imagination and pull out your Best-Summer-Yet-inator, and go out there and make some great memories! Ask each other what you’re going to do today. Be creative. Be resourceful. Be enthusiastic! Tell Candace (probably me, in my family) to lighten up. Imagine what can be done instead of what can’t. There’s no telling what you’ll see, do, create, grow, invent, or accomplish. And it doesn’t even have to go away before Mom sees it.

Soon you’ll have some great stories to tell and maybe even some great songs to sing because of it. Whether you choose to build roller coasters or relationships (both inside and outside of the family), just have a great summer together. Work fast, though, because we don’t have 104 days of summer vacation. And as they say, “there’s a whole lot of stuff to do before school starts this fall!”

Hey, where’s Perry?