There’s a popular joke that if you want to know how your wife will look in twenty years, just study your mother-in-law. It’s all very well if your wife’s mum is Njoki Ndung’u, less cool if she is, say, someone else.

I don’t know about boys, but girls seem to go through various ‘mummy stages’. Initially, you want to be like mum. You want to dress like her, wear your hair like her. You spend hours flossing her heels, wearing her make-up and begging her for matching outfits.

At some point, for some reason, you rebel. You turn tomboy, shave the hair and burn all your dresses. The girly things get progressively shorter [or for supermodel progeny, progressively longer]. I don’t know if it’s teen angst or a desire to be different, but at that point, sura ka madhako becomes a very deep insult.

Then, years later, with no conscious effort, you become Mum. It could be some latent gene that’s activated by childbirth, or it could be an age thing, but you suddenly notice that you cook, clean, and discipline your children just like your mother did. You style your house in the same way, say the same things, buy the same products, and even pick the same [previously] annoying habits. Read the rest of this entry →

Confession time, my late mother-God rest her soul-told us this a few years ago when I had my son, that none of all five of us ever had a bath until we were at least three years old. Imagine!! None of us! I can just imagine the amount of dirt I had on me, and the dirt on grind that ended up in that ‘karai’ at the end of that first time.

The purpose of that story when she told it was to stop me from insisting that I should wash my son everyday when he was a few days old. The plan was, and she even bought coconut oil for that purpose, to wipe him with oil; whichever kind could be found. Ammon was a very quiet lad when he was small, so he would quietly lie still and enjoy the massage mom proceeded to give him. Soon it became a daily ritual right before the little sap went to sleep for the last time of the day.

As is the case with lazy people like myself, I got used to that particular way of doing things. The ‘tush’ would get wet wipes with every diaper change, and the rest of him would be lathered up in cooking coconut oil or olive oil by mom at the end of the day. If we have kept a record of all the times Ammon has had in his life thus far therefore, they would probably not get past 100.

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Single Motherhood is becoming prevalent not just in our Society but Globally. Whatever circumstances that lead one to become a single mother, there are very pertinent questions to be asked by all. In Kenya, the biggest problem is the perceptions and stereotyping exercised on single mothers and their children,in the 21st Century!! The problem is NOT ignorance, everyone is aware that times have changed; it is a deliberate Patriachial Mentality by our Society that has REFUSED to change with the times. In my opinion, the macho male mentality is ‘afraid of losing Power’ if they embraced change!!

CHANGE IS INEVITABLE ; THE TIME FOR CHANGE IS HERE AND NOW!!

But that is a Debate for another day, this article today is a tribute to a very special mother, who took her parenting responsibilities seriously and did her job to the best of her ability, by raising her son to become the best human being he could be. Little did she know that she was raising ‘greatness’ and sadly would not live to see him make history to become the 1st African American President of The United States of America!! Read the rest of this entry →