THE LOVE OF A MOTHER…

My upbringing had its ups and downs, and just like a lot of children there were a lot of times I wished I was an adult, and now as a full-grown man, there are times I just wish I could be treated as a child again. One major part I missed in all these memories was when it was just my younger sister and I… those were the days I was treated like a child because even though I was older, it was just two of us so the love was shared almost equally on most occasions since we are of different genders there was no need to share a lot of things. But when the third child came, I was 11 but had to man up and start learning not to ask because there were two younger siblings whose needs were often prioritized above mine.

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I had to learn to join in taking care of them too and reduce the workload on my parents, especially my mum. At age 14 I had another baby brother, but this time I care less whether or not I was gaining any attention because I was already used to it. And at age 20, I learned to be like a father to my siblings after my last sibling was born. But within all these years, especially the first 15 years of my life, one thing that I saw now was the love of my mother. I got to understand it better as I grew older even though it didn't sit well with me then. Now if I have the opportunity to go back to those days, I will do so, and ensure I enjoy and appreciate the whole process because I don't know how she does it, but she knew how to show the love her children needed at every point in our lives.

I remember the children's song ” Who sat and watched my infant's head” and I realized this was my mother to me for those 15 years… I can't remember a night my mother slept before me then, and even when she was sleepy she ensured her children were already in bed (even though some of those times I only pretended to sleep). I can't remember a time when my mum slept a full 6 hours at night. Although she spent most of those hours praying, I remember she would go to each of our rooms just to check how we were doing. She would do this from the beginning of her prayers to the end, and even to date she still does that. When I went to the village, even though we stayed in a hotel, she would leave her room on different occasions in the middle of the night to check on her children.

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I remember one time in Lagos, I was still the only child then and my mum boarded a public bus with me, because of the rush immediately she came down the bus and started to move with me still inside. You needed to see the marathon my mother ran that day before the bus driver realized his mistake. These were little things my mum did that made me tell myself if I am privileged to have kids of my own, they will experience the love of a father and a protector from me. No matter how many they are they will always know they can count on that love. But then one thing I wouldn't do is be too uptight with them as my mum was with me and my sister especially. I want my kids to see me as their safe haven, where they can run to in both good and bad times even if they have made the worst mistakes on earth. My mother is everything but a safe haven because when you make a mistake, she always reminds you about it lol.

THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIVE NAIJA'S PROMPT FOR THE WEEK