Happy Father’s Day!

Growing up, I was the quiet, easy going and good natured child who never quite understood the need to head out every day in the name of going to school.

Now when you have a dad like mine who believed school was good for your soul, would help you enhance your social manners, beef up your brain and brawn; then you can already guess that I was fighting a lost war even thinking I didn’t want to go to school.

Why couldn’t I just stay home and be home schooled?!! I mean, it happened all the time in movies! I didn’t understand what all the fuss was, about school.

Looking back now and wearing the hat of a parent, I do see how much of a pain I must’ve been to my poor dear dad, what with my whining and dragging of feet when it was time to head out to the bus.

One incident stands out fondly in my memory and it was one of the lessons that I’d say shaped me as a child and an adult.

Remember that pupil on the honor roll whose parents made sure they had their fees for the next session was paid before the doors were shut to mark the end of a session or term? Yep, you guessed right; that was me, minus the honor roll *tongue out* Sleep wouldn’t let me be great

He was a journalist and saw participating and volunteering at every event in my school as part of his deliverables as a parent. He was on the board of the Parents Teachers Association, he checked and rechecked every class assignment given to me and didn’t fail to leave a lengthy comment right there on my school book- there was no way my class teacher would miss seeing it. Mo de je’egba l’ori iyen na

Now this was way before the era of Communication Books as we know it now. If there ever was a futuristic parent whose ways were set twenty light years ahead, my mom and dad were it.

Now, the usual practice when the school wants to enforce payment of fees was to send all the kids whose parents were yet to pay to a separate class where they took their lessons. However, on this fateful day, the affected kids were not only separated and sent to a different class, they were also asked to leave the premises and head home.

In a split second, I’d packed my books and slipped into the line of children filing out of the class and premises.

My joy knew no bounds. I was free! Now, that’s funny especially considering how I wasn’t imprisoned in school, wasn’t in boarding school and had access to my home on a daily basis.

I was on cloud 9 as I skipped down the road and caught up with a few classmates. The plan was to head over to the home of one classmate, play video games and then head home at exactly the same time school let us out.

Everything went as planned; we hung out, played video games, had our packed lunches and surprisingly even napped!!

Now my ancestors must have had it in for me that day because my luck ran out on my way home when I saw this tiger nut seller with his wares spread on a wheel barrow. I pulled out my bus fare from my tiny pencil case and bought enough tiger-nuts to last me all day.

Still skipping and munching as I got home, I carelessly dumped the nuts on the kitchen counter, changed then headed out to play. How kids recharge after playing hours on end, I’ll never understand!

I was hard at it when my dad got home and was so happy to see him; what can I say? I’d just had a great day! I walked behind him into the kitchen and was happily chattering away when I noticed he had stopped by the counter and was holding up... wait for it... my tiger-nuts!

Oh no!

“Where did you get this?” my dad asked.

“I... um... bought it.”

“Ok.”

Now, every child knows that they get scolded when they do something bad. That’s normal. What isn’t, however, is when when your parents don’t voice their anger like they usually would but speak calmly. *insert “Aye mi temi ba mi!!”

I walked round on eggshells all evening waiting for the other shoe to drop but he seemed to have forgotten about me.

Fast forward to a few minutes later when he suggests we go for a walk. I would usually jump at the invitation because it afforded me time to spend with my dad, especially as he told stories during the walk.

My heart was literally in my mouth as we headed out of the house and a few minutes into the walk, he decides we should stop by any uncle’s house.

“Let’s go visit and say hi.”

I nodded like a lizard.

Getting there was uneventful and just as I was about to breathe easy, my uncle calls from the balcony where he stood with my dad.

“Ekeoma, go downstairs and call the tiger-nuts hawker by the gate. You want, no?”

“No, thank you Uncle.” I say.

My dad says something as I go down and I catch the end of the sentence... “She’ll want o! In fact buy enough to fill a litre! That’s your dinner!”

Brethren, need I say more?

Now that I think of it, that there is probably the reason why I don’t take tiger-nuts milk which is all the rave now!

To all the awesome Fathers, God bless and keep you!

Cee.