Ok, so first of all, happy belated Easter. Clearly I’m in a whole other time zone coz Easter totally passed me by. I did however have a chance to go out of town and visit some relaz. While there, I observed something that I thought I’d put to a vote with my readers so please indulge me.
I was around several children of varying ages; 2, 5 and 10. Let’s just say that their behavior left a lot to be desired. In fact, I turned to another relative and declared them to be my most effective form of birth control, better than any pill or condom ever made. I think what bothered me the most was that they weren’t necessarily difficult as children can sometimes be. They were difficult in an “I heard you call me, I heard you tell me not to do that, I hear now telling me to come to you or go outside, but I’m not going to do a darn thing you tell me and there’s NOTHING you can do about it, even if you’re my auntie, uncle or grandma” kind of way. To make matters worse, THEY WERE RIGHT!
I was raised by a parent who let it be known that if I was ever caught doing wrong by anyone I would get a spanking from the neighbor/relative etc (for the wrong done) and from my mum twice (once for the mistake and again for embarrassing her). Let’s just say I always had this sense that my neighbors, aunties, uncles, teachers et al were all watching me every second of my existence and were firmly planted on my mum’s side.
Of course if I was being victimized or needed protection from whoever, they were on my side. Knowing all this, you can image my shock and dismay to find that in these kids’ parent’s eyes, they were perfect angels and those of us who called them out for their mistakes became the enemy of the parent present (in this case, the mother more than the father). Incidentally, all the adults present – minus said parents – could clearly see that these kids were not behaving in an appropriate or acceptable manner. My question then is this: does it still take a village to raise a child?
Rant:
1. Bad parenting. Yeah I said it; I think to parent in such a manner that children cannot or will not respond to adults in an appropriate manner is bad parenting. There are reasons why God gives us parents (or parent-like figures) and I’m sure one them is so that we can instruct and guide them well. Are we going to raise our children and our villages’ children or are they going to raise us? I mean, aren’t we crippling them when we refuse to see that they are  wonderful yet imperfect and in need of guidance and correction? That’s every human’s natural condition; wonderful yet imperfect and still in need of correction
2. Thika road between Kenyatta University and town. Wow! It was horrid this Easter. What is happening?!?!
Rave:
1. Divine Words of Poetry: Neo Soul and Poetry Night at DiVino’s restaurant. OH. MY. GOD. These guys were amazing and did a great job!!! The poetry was great; I just wish I knew these poets and musicians. I know the content of their work but I do wish I knew their actual names so I could rave on them by name.
2. Fena. You guys already know that I’m such a huge fan of hers. I’ve gotta say that this night was even better than any other performance of hers that I’ve been to. Girl got MAAAAAD skills. Seriously. What in world was that about???? Go Fena. Fantastic work, as always and plus your guitarist Izo (spelling?) is talented and cute. Not bad 😉  Great musical match.
Please give me your opinion of my question above: does it still take a village to raise a child? Also, if you know any other artists from Divine Words of Poetry: Neo Soul and Poetry Night, please do share in the comments section. I wanna rave on them by name. In fact, I just might do an entire post on them all. Yeah, they were THAT good!
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When Mia isn't ranting or raving, she keeps a blog in an attempt to live her life to the fullest. Her exploits can be found on "The Yes Trail" at www.miasaysyes.wordpress.com