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Neighbourly tips
Troublesome neighbours are a reality of life and are not restricted to certain climes. Sometime ago I was asking my brother if he had received a parcel I had sent for his children and somehow our conversation shifted to his neighbours. You see depending on the area you live in sometimes, it might be possible for your neighbours to collect from the postman a parcel of yours in your absence. This would save you the trouble of going to the delivery office to pick up the parcel. So I was enquiring if his neighbours did this for each other and he explained that his neighbours were not on talking…
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Must have been love…
Is this love, is this love is this love, is this love that I’m feeling Is this love, is this love, is this love, is this love that I ‘m feeling I had a lot of butterflies when my husband eventually came and I believed that the love we shared would conquer all the storms and difficulties that may come our way. I believed that we had learnt a lot, done several counselling sessions and when the D-day came, I was over the moon. Finally, I had a man I could call my own and we were in love. I hate to say that I barely had a proper…
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Count your blessings
Merry Christmas Everyone! Wow! It’s a few more days till the end of this year and I am feeling very grateful, especially at this time of year – Christmas. My son says he’s been dreaming of Father Christmas every day since we entered December. Somehow all he can think of are the presents he hopes to get. I had to ask him if I would get a present and he replied “Grownups don’t get presents Mummy!” Can you imagine! And while all the lights are coming out and there is general cheer in the air, there is also the need to reflect on the last twelve months and take stock.…
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It Could Be You…
It was a game of ‘Mummy and Daddy’ gone too far. He had yelled at her, just like Daddy yelled at Mummy, so she carried her baby sister and attempted to breastfeed her like Mummy. It tickled a little, but she liked it. “Baby suck now”, said ten-year-old Maria; and that was when Mummy caught them. “What are you doing to my Child! What are you doing!! Don’t you know this is CHILD ABUSE!!!” Maria was horrified. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. They were just playing, but Mummy called her a child abuser… Mummy grabbed the baby from Maria and walked away. She was in shock at what…
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When Love is a Lie
She could never forget the first day it happened. As the drop of liquid landed on her body, her confusion about its source as well as its willingness to find its way on her arm puzzled her .Had the tension in the house gotten so bad that it blew the roof , temporarily ?Was it possible that it was raining in her house? How could it be one isolated drop?. She looked at her husband in utter disbelief and the gleam in his eyes was unmistakable. At the corner of his mouth was a sickening smile that had begun to form, he was glaring at her with a fake look…
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Not all dreams should come true
I still remember all the dreams that I had several years before I got married. I envisaged a happy home with a beautiful wife and children around my table like the Bible promised and when the time was ripe, I pursued the girl I felt that I loved.I did it with as much gusto as any man would. You know all the things we men normally do during the chase, all but to no avail. I added prayer, fasting and even began to sow seeds to have this woman and just when I began to conclude that she may never be mine, a stroke of luck came, I was able…
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Voices from the Village
I spent most of my childhood and teenage years in Africa, so I understand the saying “It takes a whole Village to raise a child”. I have memories of being told-off by absolute strangers for things that they had no vested interest in. Some of those ‘busy-body’ moments were actually welcome, but most of them … well, let’s just say they don’t bring back fond memories. As I have grown older, and I am tempted to force my advice on the youth around me, I remember how I felt, receiving those words of wisdom that I did not ask for. This makes me pause a little, and think a while…
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Daddy versus Husband
“Na oversabi wife dey call her husband daddy” I remember the first time I heard that phrase used. I was actually puzzled about it because I knew many wives that called their husbands daddy. Some have done it out of courtesy as children have been born and children being children usually pick up the names they hear us call another and in an African setting or even majority of cultures, it would be disrespectful for a child to refer to his/her parents by their first name at some point in their lives , so some women have virtually had to use the name daddy for their husbands because of the children…
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Two lines, then one line
Talking about loss can be quite heavy on the tongue. I don’t think anyone finds it particularly easy; whether it’s a Doctor delivering bad news, or a policewoman sent to tell the family, or a phone call from abroad, there is no convenient time to hear about a loved one dying. Here’s a story telling of a unique kind of loss, one we try not to focus on a lot – mainly because it is a private matter – even though it hurts like any other. Two lines. That’s how we met. I was sort of expecting to meet you, but you came a little earlier than planned. I remember…
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First Class Love
I will be the first to confess that it was only until I entered high school that the matter of step-parenting became real in my world. Prior to that, all I knew about step -parents was from the story books I read, with Cinderella story being my most vivid experience. My vocabulary was also limited to step-mothers as these books portrayed and was well tainted to the fact that they were all wicked. I was therefore surprised to learn differently when I entered the boarding school and made friends with people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. I listened with rapt attention and confusion sometimes as I heard people say…
