SWEET MOMMA

Hello bloggers! This is a special piece for a very special person and that's my sweet momma. If you're to carry out a survey asking people who they love more among their parents, you are sure to hear them say it's their moms. For Fathers reading this, it's not that we don't love you. There's just something special about a mother. And am positive you agree. As i go down memory lane, i remember the early years when I was still knee high to a grasshopper.
    Father left when we were still very young and mom had to take care of us. We were 5 in number so you can imagine the strain and stress. She had this little shop along Sanya express road where she sold snacks, food and drinks. Mom would wake up at 1am in the morning to bake and cook. Sales was good back in the day. Mom could bake meatpies, eggrolls, doughnuts, scotch eggs, chin chin, buns, puff puff, etc in large amounts. She even invented one snack that I can never forget. Called it Talet. She'd bake and cook till 6 and then she'd wake us up to help carry the snacks to the shop and also start the day's chores. Choi, Ma was a real firebrand then. She had no patience for slowness or clumsiness in general. If she sent you on an errand and you happened to forget one of the items she asked you to get, you were done for. The beatings were not funny.
    I remember one incident vividly as though it was yesterday. It was a school night and the rule in our house was to retire to bed at 9pm but I and my siblings wanted to watch this popular programme' AGBARANLA.' We knew Ma wouldn't allow us so we went to bed but it happened that she had to go see a good friend of hers who lived some houses away. So after she left, we snuck out of bed, went to the living room, turned on the tv and began watching the programme. We totally forgot ourselves cos we were engrossed in the episode that was showing that night but i can swear we didn't spend up to 10mins cos we were scared she would come catch us. However, sometime into the film, we didn't know that Ma was watching us through a window till she boldly said,'' Ehen, na the sleep wey una dey sleep be dis abi?'' See the speed at which we took off for our room. Infact we knew we were finished that night but surprisingly, Ma didn't come for us. I and my siblings discussed it and my eldest sister assured us that no punishment would befall us and that since Ma didn't come, we had been forgiven. I remained skeptical but my sis told us to forget it.
  We had double decker beds then and i slept with my older sister on the upper bunk. Early the next day, I heard someone enter the room. Am a light sleeper, always have and always be. Next i heard was flogging. Ha, my eldest sister collect sha that day but she ran out of the room. Ma moved on to the next person then told i and my other sis to come down and collect ours. Oh, it wasn't funny. The beating was on another level. Lol. After that, we had punishment of different types and grades. We learnt a huge lesson that day that we could never outsmart our mother.
   That's just one story. I remember many that I'll tell my grandchildren and the next generation. You know then, we actually thought our mother heartless, cruel, evil, and wicked. We didn't understand why we had to trek miles upon miles to fetch water, buy charcoal and go on errands when our mates were asleep. If Pepsi didn't come to supply mom with drinks, we had to go buy from far places and if we weren't successful, we had to go back and look till we bought. The beatings were another thing entirely. But growing up, we understood. Mother had to slave and deny herself lots of things so we could attend private schools, wear good clothes, attend summer lessons and many more. She had to beat us so we wouldn't become spoilt and lazy. She wanted us smart and sharp and she wanted us to have good grades. Now we understand. Whatever I am today, I have my mother to thank for. I love, cherish and appreciate her.
    If you love your mom, pls cherish her. Do what you can for her now that she's still alive. Thank God for her. Whatever differences you may have, make amends today cos she's a treasure.
   I have lots of stories to share with you but it'll be on another post. Maybe. And that's all for now folks.