Parents close their shop to go to watch their children's school play: "Days like these won't return and we can't miss out on them!"

How many times does a parent reflect on the past and remember their children still being in diapers, eating their baby food and speaking their first words: unique moments accompanied by strong emotions that only a mum or a dad can appreciate. Those moments are some of the best in a parent's life, but they're also very fleeting. And, like all good things, one needs to savor the moment. The owners of a bookstore decided to close up for one day for a very valid reason: their children's end-of-year school play! A photo of the sign that they hung up in their shop's window went viral on the web.

via Facebook / Ubik Vico Equense

The owners of "Ubik" bookshop in Vico Equense, close to the city of Naples, decided to sacrifice one day of earnings during the Christmas period to attend their children's school play. Giovanna and Raffaele hung a message up in their shop window announcing the closure:

"Closed for a school play...days like these won't return and we can't miss out on them!" reads the sign.

A photo of the sign, published to social media, soon went viral on the web, demonstrating how rare such acts are these days. We have built a hectic world, more attentive to profit than to emotions, and in which the family often has to take a back seat. But why should we miss out on our children's special moments?

The booksellers' sign speaks to an important truth: these moments are unique and will never return. Sooner or later, our children will grow up, they will take their own paths in life and nothing will ever be the same again. So why deprive yourself of a joy of this kind? The present is a precious gift, even more than all the money in the world, and it must be enjoyed because we cannot go back in time.

Readers were very impressed by the choice these parents made and congratulated Raffaele and Giovanna for putting their family first.