Surviving the African Parent

 

  Supreme ice cream, Blue bunny, Ben and Jerry's. We all love ice cream (at least most of us do). So when we go to the store with our parents we convince them to buy the family size of our favourite flavours. This ice cream becomes the go-to snack for movies and hot afternoons. However, in African homes, these ice cream buckets have another use. A use that the makers of ice cream tubs didn't plan for at all. It is used to store soup. That's right. When the ice cream is all gone our parents make us wash up the inside to pack soup and stew and beans and anything that is NOT ice cream. We have all been victims of the cruel prank. We go to the freezer and see a tub of our favourite ice cream flavour. Just as we are about to exclaim 'ice cream!' we open it and see soup or stew. It's the cruelest joke you can pull on a hopeful anyone- year-old. At least we can say we follow the three R's Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Though I'd really prefer to have ice cream.

 

  Picture this.  It's a cool day.  The breeze is blowing softly.  One of those lazy days, if you understand what I mean.  Those days where time seems to flow gently and there is nothing to do but lie back and relax.  The house is quiet and everyone is in their own corner doing their own thing. Suddenly, you hear the banging of a pot. Followed by the flow of water. You tense up. It's meant to be a lazy day. No one is meant to work. Suddenly, your mom yells your name. You go to where she is only for her to tell you that the kitchen counters aren't clean. You get to cleaning the counter when she points out that the chair in the living room is slightly crooked. You straighten out the chair and she points out the dirt on the floor and the rug not being straightened and the fridge having a spill in it, and the study shelves being dusty... basically she starts pointing out everything bad in the house- every askew chair, unpolished decoration, and dirty s...

 

  We've all had our 'running girl' or 'running boy' moments. However, no 'running' moment can be compared to the times 'they' came. Instantly you were asked to bring a barrage of things: water, drinks, snacks, keys, can openers, trays, THAT picture frame from two months ago, their phone, the OTHER picture from two months ago, their slippers, and the other OTHER picture from two months ago. We all know who I'm talking about... Guests! Whenever they came around it was goodbye free time and hello running shoes. With your name echoing every other minute it was suicide to take that nap or put on headphones and play your music at full blast. You couldn't have them call your name more than twice or ELSE . After they left though, things always went back to normal. The problem was... when would they leave?

 

Have you ever said that to your parent? The sentence 'life is hard' ? If you haven't, I don't suggest you do. I'd rather just give you a summary of the response you are 70% likely to get. "What have you done that life is hard? What is hard about your life? Do you know what life is that you're calling it hard? In my day..." There might be other variations- some gentler, others harsher- but the basic framework of the response you are more than likely to get is laid out above. It may be frustrating, but both sides are right. Your life being hard is nothing compared to how hard their life is, however, a wise person once said "because it's a three year old's problem doesn't mean it's not a problem. It might be the greatest challenge they've ever faced. Their broken toy car to them is the same as your scratched up luxury car" The situation might not be the same, but the emotion is.  As a result, you are justified in saying life ...