When you’re a parent, especially if your children are in their teens, summer doesn’t always feel like a break. During the school year, everything is more or less in place: early mornings, homework, activities, dinner, showers, bed. Tired, yes, but organized. The weekend is that little breath of freedom. But in the summer… everything gets out of order.

The clock loses power, children gain energy, and the days run out. Routines are shattered, and parents go from being alarm clocks and impromptu teachers to nighttime interrogators and taxi drivers with emotional fare. Family life intensifies.

And yet, during this apparent chaos, there is an opportunity.

An opportunity to share more time, even if it sometimes comes with more friction. To parent more calmly, even if it requires more patience. To look at children with different eyes, to observe how they grow when given space… and direction. Because summer can be exhausting, yes, but it can also be a wonderful school of life.

Some families have discovered that sharing this stage with others can change everything. Spending a few days a year surrounded by couples with children of a similar age creates a kind of “educational microclimate” where everything flows more smoothly. Where teenagers don’t feel like the only “losers” of the summer, nor the only ones whose parents set limits on. Where they see that there are other kids like them, with parents who also support, demand, and educate.

That discovery—seeing that what you’re experiencing at home isn’t an exception—is an immense gift for a teenager. It gives them peace, security, and belonging. And it also relieves parents, who often feel alone in their efforts.

In some places, like Tozal, this is a strong experience: families returning year after year, shared festivals and activities, teenagers having fun and, without realizing it, immersing themselves differently of life. But you don’t have to be in a specific place. All you need is a purpose: to find, at least for a few days, to meet other families with whom to share the summer.

It’s not about making spectacular plans. A shared rural house, a few days at the beach together, or taking turns organizing an activity where healthy is also fun will suffice. And where living faith and values ​​as a family isn’t a rarity, but the norm.

Yes, summer can be exhausting. But with company and a little creativity, it can be a deeply valuable time.

A gift of time. Why not?