Yesterday we had an amazing day! Kai attended his first drama class and got his stoke on catching an epic left while learning to surf.

Our morning was filled with great mom-son fun and lunch at Tiger’s Milk, his favourite spot!

We were, however, rudely brought back down to earth while on-route to the wetlands for our ‘nature on our doorstep fix’ – Kai on his bike and me walking.

Taking the corner, into the next street, we suddenly saw all this activity at one of the houses. People with radios, neighbours on the side walk, cars, etc. I stopped and asked one of the neighbourhood watch ladies if there’s been a break-in.

“Yes” was the only response I got as she continued talking on her radio with the other volunteer watch members.  Not knowing exactly what happened, and not wanting to “alarm” Kai too much, we continued down the road towards the wetlands.

I said to Kai, “do you think we should still go to the wetlands or just ride around the block?” His very mature response was, “yes, mom, I don’t think we should go to the wetlands if they still looking for the robbers, but let’s still ride around the block”.

We did this, knowing that the neighbourhood watch were out patrolling the area. A lady on a scooter drove past us twice; we had neighbourhood watch vehicles parked on each corner, everyone actively patrolling the area at 4:30pm, on a Saturday!

Behind these high walls, criminals kicked in someone’s back door! They didn’t get away with anything because the neighbourhood watch and neighbours were on the scene just like that! This incident must have happened as Kai and I turned the corner into this street!

We don’t know if these criminals were apprehended, but on-route home we felt safe knowing that so many people care about the community we live in. So many women, men and young adults were checking the area. I even saw someone standing on their roof, scanning the vicinity!

Our wetland excursion was ended, BUT, this incident was also an opportunity to teach my son about the realities of the world we live in and to NOT let it derail our day-to-day activities and the things we enjoy doing.

We didn’t venture out into the wetlands since the criminals could very possibly have been in the area (I don’t know), but we also didn’t turn around and allow the criminals to steal the joy out of our day!

We continued walking/riding our streets, vigilant, alert and safe, knowing that the streets were patrolled. I kept an eye out for any suspicious behaviour and we chose our route carefully, opting for the streets where neighbourhood watch patrollers were stationed on street corners.

Thank you Fish Hoek Neighbourhood Watch Volunteers for your commitment and service!