Surviving the African Parent

 

  Have you ever slept on a road trip? Now have you ever slept and woken up on a road trip? Okay. Have you ever slept and woken up then slept and woke up then slept and woke up then slept and woke up? Did you ask are we there yet or where are we each time you woke up? Did it seem like no matter how many times you slept, you were never near your destination? Welcome to what I call the endless road trip. The car gets uncomfortable, the seat gets hard. The seatbelt is too short and restrictive. You feel sweaty and you just want to get off the ride. But your mom tells you that you're moving too much and you're not a baby, or that you're disturbing everyone in the car (and you can't figure out how) So you bear it. For the seemingly endless road trip that everyone but yourself seems to be enjoying. You can't relate? You had better be grateful you can't.

 

  Do you know how hot it is outside? Are you inside giving that answer? It doesn't matter whether you are inside with an A.C. blowing at full blast or if you are at home looking for a newspaper or fan to blow yourself with. You are both dead wrong. Don't believe me? Try standing outside for five minutes. I learnt to appreciate ANY shade when the car broke down on a hot July day in the middle of nowhere.  To give you more insight, I was travelling home for the summer break with my dad when the we got a flat tire. So my dad pulled over and we came down from the nicely air conditioned car, into the blistering, hot July sun. I stood and watched, dripping sweat as my dad (who was dripping even more sweat) changed the tire. It may seem like a little deal if you were not there but it wasn't.  I felt like 'egusi' that was put out in the hottest part of the sun to dry so it can be blended dry. It made me appreciative of any shade I got, even if it was just a book. Who has ...

 

  I don't recall my room arrangements before my little brother roomed with me. My earliest memories of a room I called my own was my room with my brother. It had a wall wardrobe for myself, a standing one for my brother, a TV, a bookshelf, a writing desk and the star of the room THE BUNK BED It was perfect and it wasn't your regular bunk bed either. The top bed and bottom were positioned in such a way that there was a a mini room for whoever had the bottom bed to do whatsoever he wished with the space.  That tiny space became many things- a campsite, a war bunker, a house, a weapons storage area, a high-tech control center- it was whatever we wished it to be. However, that wasn't the best part of the bed. The bed was positioned in such a way that we could lay a mattress on the floor and another against the bunk bed. This arrangement was used to jump from the top of the bed to the floor. We would perform all sorts of tricks on it. At the right time (thinking back, I don'...

 

  "Are we there yet?" That is the most overused statement in the history of families, children and road trips. Don't try to deny it, you said it too.  As long as the distance was longer than thirty minutes you said it. I'll admit, I said it more often than normal- probably because when I was a kid I got road sick really fast. The one and half hour drive to Benin?  I'm sure I said "Are we there yet?" more than fifteen times. A drive to Warri? Double it. Don't get me started on the times we drove to Lagos. Thinking back, I'm sure all the adults felt like gagging me. Unfortunately, I had a sibling who did the exact same thing. And another? At a point, three of us did it together. But what could we do? We were simply children bored out of their minds from seeing endless road and trees. What are you like during a road trip?

 

  It's funny how we never notice that our parents grow with us. We always see them as those big, strong imposing figures from when we were kids ... most of the time.  It's when I look back at family pictures that I see my parents firsts too, their first baby, their first dedication, their first child's birthday and so much more. I realize that they were growing with me, and we were all taking steps together, learning by trial and error. While I realize that this isn't my regular kind of post, I felt like it was something I had to share to all my readers, no matter how many or few they may be.  Our parents are growing and taking the journey of parenting with us as we are growing up and we should cut them some slack sometimes.  Try it, go look at some family pictures and you'll realize that they look waay younger than they do now. Their faces are rounder, they might have been smaller, or larger. The point is, we're all growing together and I think that's a fac...