Childhood is a short season.

Helen Hayes’s line compresses a common parental and cultural realization into a single, seasonal metaphor: childhood passes quickly and cannot be prolonged or recovered. Calling it a “short season” suggests both beauty and inevitability—like spring, it is vivid but brief, and its end is part of a natural cycle rather than a failure. The remark implicitly urges attentiveness and care: adults should value children’s formative years, protect their freedom to grow, and avoid postponing affection, guidance, or presence. It can also be read as a reminder to children (and former children) that early experiences are transient yet consequential, shaping later life even after the “season” has changed.