Yesterday was a national holiday in South Africa, Human Rights Day. This public holiday always reminds me that South Africa was a very different country twenty years ago then it is now. So many South African citizens fought for their basic human rights and equality for years, some for their entire life, before finally the country was declared a democracy in 1994 and Nelson Mandela took over as president. As an American growing up in a middle class, suburban area in the Midwest, human rights was a given, not a privilege. Living here has really opened my eyes to the fact that we as Americans are so privileged to be able to voice our opinions, practice any religion, protest pressing issues, choose our children’s education, born with the freedom to be an individual…
I think having a child also changes your mindset greatly as I find myself thinking about the world that Sophiya has been brought into. Currently the state of affairs is a bit scary actually, the economic recession, global warming, escalating conflict in the Middle East, poverty, natural disasters such as Japan’s recent crisis… I wonder what the world will be like for Sophiya’s future. Despite all the frightening aspects of the world today, I look into her eyes and there is pure innocence and joy, which gives me hope! Her smiles, her giggles, she makes your heart melt and all the ugliness in this world disappears.
In celebration of Human Rights Day long weekend, we packed up our beach gear and headed to Simon’s Town to Boulders Beach with some friends. We spent the day soaking up sunshine, taking in the beautiful surroundings and showing Sophiya the quirky creatures sharing the beach with us – penguins!
Boulders is a well-known tourist hotspot and conservation site for African penguins, aptly named after its gigantic beach protecting cove of smooth rock formations perfectly placed! Dana and I joke that these penguins were the smart ones to stay in a warm climate like Cape Town!
Sophiya had an absolute blast “chasing” the penguins and practicing her walking on the soft sandy terrain, thankfully a forgiving surface for her bum every fall she took. Following our day at Boulders, Sophiya has transformed into a full-fledged biped. She is thoroughly enjoying the new found freedom to go back and forth from point A to point B at our house 15+ times on her own, transport objects to secret places at her leisure, and Dad/Mom are enjoying the fact that we can watch her in awe but not have to move ourselves!
There's no denying that with new found independence of our little one comes hand in hand with new found stubbornness. We are learning a new level of patience as parents. As trying as these tantrums can be, we also can't help but laugh (only in hindsight of course) and recognize that she is exploring her new sense of confidence and ability to make her own choices.
As you can see we have high hopes for Sophiya’s future education and trying to instill a love for reading at an early stage. Dad is the best story teller and is amazing at engaging her short attention span and making her laugh with his unique character voices. She absolutely adores her dad and was so happy to spend an extra day with him this weekend. If only it could be the weekend everyday...
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