Family outings are in the African context not very popular. If your parents take you to town to do their monthly shopping they make it seem like a big deal. I never understood why my parents insisted on taking us on family holidays when we were younger. I always wanted to know if where we were going there was a television. I could not understand why they insisted. As we grew older the outings became less and less because there were so many of us, but by then I finally understood. My childhood memories are of those outings sharply juxtaposed with the mundane daily life. Of note was the visit to Victoria Falls when I was seven. On that trip, my sister, then two years old gave a caucasian child - maybe four or five years old - a thorough beating by the baby pool be fore shoving the girl - who incidentally could not swim- into the pool. The parents screamed at my parents and it was a big mess. It culminated with my parents apologising and my little sister still defiant because she insisted she was right. The couple wanted my sister on a leash because she had dared lay a hand on a caucasian child despite the fact that my father had saved the girl. This was just after independence and race issues were a big deal. This brief unpleasantness was just a blimp on an entirely fun adventure; the amazing train ride from Bulawayo, the visit to the crocodile farm and the stupefyingly beautiful falls, and visiting our Mbedzi cousins who hosted us during our entire stay in Victoria Falls. I learnt a lot about living with other people in the community, I learnt to appreciate my family and the beauty of nature. or the visit to Buchwa Mine to our cousins the Mushoriwas. Or the Great Zimbabwe ruins visit.
Lately I started taking my kids on outings ; Lake Chivero, Lion and Cheetah Park, Snake Park, and the national heroes acre. I have become extremely busy and when i make a commitment to take my kids anywhere it means I have time to spend with my kids. Its not easy to say I will stay home today and play with my kids and actually spend time with them. You always get caught up in other issues and forget why you stayed in the first place.
You do not need to spend pots of money or spend the whole year saving for the dream holiday and building up resentments because of things forgone.
I am writing this under the shade of some tree I cannot name at Macdonald's pool watching my kids alternately swim and come to the tree for food. I am a terrible swimmer and can only manage a monstrous version of the doggy paddle which is excrutiating to watch so I stay out of the water and watch those who are able to, do. My son has beaten a le chinois boy because he dared take his beach ball ( I fortunately do not have to intervene like my mother because Zimbabwe is different now), my eldest keeps shouting for me to watch each time she takes a dive, and the middle one keeps coming to me to report on her brother's transgressions in the baby pool. Life is all good!
Take your kids out, their memories of those outings will stand you in good stead when they feel like hurting your feelings when the roaring hormones of teenagedom threaten to take over their lives. They will learn about the world around them; remember the minefield that is school is not everything. And remember kids grow up really fast and before you know it, they are opinionated adults who won't give you the time of day. Enjoy them whilst you still can.
peace,
fadz
