The theme for week 24 was Freedom and there is just so many ways to interpret freedom, freedom to fun free, freedom to choose what to wear, where to drive, to travel, freedom of speech. However one thing that we often forget is how lucky we are to live without constant worry and fear, a country free from war. During the Second World War Norway was occupied by the Germans, throughout our coastal area we still see the remains of the old German War bunkers. 2o15 mark 70 years since the war ended and these remains is just a distant and surreal reminder of what life was like when Norway was occupied. Instead of living in fear we can proudly wave our flag and wear our nationality with pride.
With freedom in mind, I took my daughter to Sola Stranden one night. We found a War Bunker that she had visited previously and while we walked along the beach she asked a lot of questions about the War. She wonders what it must be like to both be a soldier and those living in the Norway at that time. I love listening to the empathy she has for both and we speak about how lucky we are that this part is a thing of the past. She shares the interest for our history with her dad and I am sure as she learns more about our past at school her questions will just keep coming. After talking about the war, the past she goes on to tell me about how she and her friend was playing at the bunker last time they were at the beach, they had pretended it was a castle and suddenly we go from the history right into imaginary play. To me this transition just emphasis how far we have come in the past 70 years and how lucky we are to live in a free country.
Below is images that I created in collaboration with my daughter to mark our take on the word Freedom.