Kids Say the Darndest Things

This lil' kid uses tooth picks after her meals. Ask her mother...

Hello everyone how was your week? I believe it has been great so far. Sorry I didn't blog yesterday as I was caught up in heavy traffic and had a lot of issues. Well, welcome back and TGIF...

The entire country celebrate kids today and I wonder what each set of parents think of it all. Have your kids been good so far or have they shown a caterpillar side by destroying the entire neighborhood like I did in my time?

 Kids listen well to us when we talk and can re-echo us anytime, anywhere. It was that time, during the Sunday morning service, for the children's sermon. All the children were invited to come forward. One little girl was wearing a particularly pretty dress and, as she sat down, the pastor leaned over and said, "That is a very pretty dress. Is it your Easter Dress?" The little girl replied, directly into the pastor's clip-on microphone, "Yes, and my Mom says it's a b*tch to iron." Hehehe!

Kids can also be quite creative in being naughty. An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him "How do you expect to get into Heaven with this kinda behavior?" The boy thought it over and said, "Well, I'll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the (heaven's) door until St. Peter says, 'For Heaven's sake, Dylan, come in or stay out!'''

 

Kids have a rare ability to retain and imitate behavior they see in adults. One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?" The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't dear" she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room." A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice; "The big sissy. Mschew!".

Kids give joy. They are the reason many parents stay together despite tough times. Their cries may be annoying, but parents who have not experience it yet yearn for it. See it now as a blessing.

Dear adults, we have a responsibility to teach by absolute example cos these children are listening, watching and re-creating our behaviors. Show love and care to your kids no matter how they look or how much sleepless nights they give you now. One day you will see them all grown and useful and tears of joy will roll down your cheeks. After all, MONKEY NO FINE BUT HIM MAMA LIKE AM...

Yesterday, a kid was in a bus with her dad while coming back from school. It had rained and the entire road was flooded due to the usual poor drainage system. The kid innocently said to the dad: "Daddy, tomorrow is children's day and I will like to come back here for swimming". Imagine?!

Happy Children's Day y'all...

AFRICA AND THE DIASPORA

How many of us know that today is “Africa Day”? Or that on 25 May 1963, the OAU (Organization Of African Unity, not Obafemi Awolowo University) was founded? Well today is Africa Day and the OAU has decided to focus on “Africa And The Diaspora” and the following are my thoughts:

As a kid I thought that “Diaspora” was a person’s name but Diaspora (noun): a word of Greek origin from diaspeirein to disperse was used for the scattering of the Jews to countries outside of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity. So we understand it now abi?

There are two major fashions:

1. Diaspora via SLAVERY
2. Diaspora via MIGRATION

We, Africa, thank thee "Diaspora" for:

1. EXPOSURE: Having an education is cool and having an education in a very developed environment is way too cool. What’s more? You get to live and interact with people whose minds  live the technology you learn. This gives the Africans an opportunity to come back home and assist develop the society. Now aint this cool?
2. DILUTED CULTURE: the African culture(s) has been hit hard due to contact with the whites. It is good that barbaric, unholy traditions are banished but then we also lose certain values in our culture.
3. MODERN DAY SLAVERY/ HUMAN TRAFFICKING: Some of us WILLINGLY give ourselves to slavery in a bid to just be on the other side of world. It seems that if you do not LIVE in US, UK or other developed parts of the world you are suffering. Don’t misconstrue me here. I am just saying that it is not a “DO-OR-DIE” affair. Take it easy oh my people.
4. “REDUCED” RACISM: Maybe being in Diaspora has made the whites and other races mix to an extent that racism is seen as at least a “politically incorrect” behaviour. If you live with someone you see as a lesser mortal and it he happens to beat you in school everytime then...sorry he is a human...
5. BRAIN DRAIN: Don’t you agree that is the main thing eating into Africa? For instance in my paternal family where there are about 8 siblings, only 3 are in Naija while the rest reside in the US. The same goes for my maternal family where 3 are in the US with 2 back home. When I say these folks are in the US I mean they are all citizens, have lived all their lives there and are major people (highly placed doctors, nurses, academicians, et al). These are brains that could have been useful in our African society. Unfortunately, it is the same issue with your fam too...

People go always enter ghana-must-go bag waka go Russia sha but the real question is "what positive exposure do we bring back home?". So I leave you with the words of a wise man:

“The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. Freedom and slavery are mental states.” – Mahatma Ghandi


Note: I must have failed to address some important facts. Please leave a comment on your thought. Many thanks.

The Exodus...