Junior Goes Camping

For reasons only a mother can understand, I tend to hang on to Junior a little tight (er). You know, my world revolves around him and all those cutesy things that mothers blurt out which end up embarrassing their offspring…? But I can be quite flexible when I want to. Every child gets to hear of camping and camp fires at some point. They watch a movie or hear older kids talking about it and they get curious. Me being me and Junior being Junior, we got into a debate on camping. He watched ‘Mulan’ an animation that has all these heroes and villains and camping and camp fires. That’s when he decided he wanted to build a tent.

Creativity is essential when you enter the parenting realm. I was either going to help make a tent or buy him one. Buying was not going to be done so after racking my brain, and with help of Junior dearest, we set on to build a tent.

Building time is the one time I can get him to concentrate on something that is not school related, without him jumping about and wheezing by in a blur. After 30 minutes of arguing, discussion, compromise plus deciding which items of clothing and furniture in my house were suitable (read disposable) we came up with a pretty good tent look-alike.

Tent is fully enclosed on all sides, with warm blankets inside

So excited is the boy that he has declared that he is going to spend the rest of his nights there. His ‘Sleep Room Tent’, he calls it. If this is what I have to agree to in place of the dangerous outdoor camping trips, then by God I will make it work! And so, Junior will spend his first night in the tent today. He has everything set out. His sleeping clothes, blankets and his water bottle.

This I will indulge him until he tires of it. Which will probably be 2 days tops. It’s the only time I can afford to give anyway, seeing as said tent stands smack in the middle of my living room. No guests expected this weekend, hence we are good for the 2 days.

Junior gets to go camping for the weekend. Mummy gets to be a hero. We live happily ever after. The End.

Setting Rabid Dogs on KPLC – My Broken Fridge

On a good day, I can be very patient. On an even better day, I can shake hands with an annoying person. I have been experiencing better days, which means I have been shaking hands with KPLC even when they get into the disco fever, switching the power on and off at will. I sometimes think there is a very bored individual manning those switches and the only entertainment he gets (it has to be a he) is playing with different switches. My patience ran out yesterday and I am on seeth mode.

See, there is one gadget in my house that I will not let anyone play around with. You can have my laptop, you can have my fancy phone, even my toaster if you want. But never my fridge. You should also know that milk is the main source of nutrition in my house. That means I horde tons of it, both in the fridge and in the freezer. You cannot throw anything in there without hitting a can of milk.

For the past few days, the on-off KPLC games have reached new heights. And in so doing, my fridge has stopped working. I am not an amused woman. I am never pretty when I am not amused. My frozen milk has thawed. I have yelled at all the right people and in the process I have been assured that my refridgerator is fixable, which will be done in a few days.

Until someone explains to me, like a 2 year old, why KPLC seems to have the problems it has with the constant power supply, I’m still very upset. Mostly because I’m worried that the next gadget to blow might be one that will not be easy to fix.

Meanwhile, I have decreed that the occupants of my house temporarily convert to cats. Everyone will have a glass of milk, 3 times a day, every day till the current supply runs out. That is over and above any teas, chocolates, or coffees that they shall be taking, and if you are unfortunate enough to be Junior, your food comes with extra milk instead of soup. No milk shall go to waste.

Too, give the focused, rabid dogs room should you run into them. They are headed to KPLC offices and you do not want to break said focus.

If Mother Was on Twitter

I know what you are thinking…. ‘she’s always looking for ways to invite trouble in’. You are right! What would life be without the excitement of expectation or even acting out scenarios? Two nights ago, as I was taking a break from work, I decided to go through my twitter timeline. Mostly for amusement’s sake but also, because half the time I tend to blurt out things that are not very carefully thought out. Thereafter, I went through my favorites.

Then for one panicky moment, I started imagining what mother would say if she was on twitter and saw my timeline. Better yet, whether she would subliminally tweet (or what we fondly call sub-tweet/submarine-tweet/subaru-tweet) me or send me replies on some of those tweets. I can tell you for sure, for some of them, she would reach out from across the internet cables and wring my neck. Others she’d probably claim I was adopted and she never had time to go through my original family tree to determine the ‘saneness’ of the line.

She’s not one to cringe easily so instead she would probably find the fastest train to my house and cover my ‘nakedness’ so to speak. That would be after giving me several lines of well intended, church appropriate lecture.

But that’s about my timeline. What about HER timeline? Would I even follow her? Assuming that I had a decent timeline so I wasn’t afraid of her following me back? And what would she tweet about? Let’s see… probably about her work. That’s for sure. About that nosey neighbour who is always dropping in for a quick chat when she’s in the middle of preparing for a Women’s Guild meeting that she happens to chair. How kids of these days, including her daughter, have no sense of organisation perhaps? Or about her grandson who cannot speak a word of her mother-tongue, or in this case her grandmother-tongue considering her daughter is a pile of hopeless when it comes to imparting language?

The more I think about it, the more I realise she probably would die of shock on day one of joining twitter, then die again upon coming across my timeline, then spend the rest of her days in seclusion, deep in fast and pray, hoping that Jesus would swoop down and erase the internet as a whole. So today I made a point of thanking the Lord that mother is not on twitter.

O and Just so you know, the day my kid joins twitter is the day I quit social media in totality.

Of New Home, Birthday and Whatnot

“The best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.” -Theodore Roosevelt

New Home – www.kenyanmom.com

I know! New home! Me who does not like change! On 20th August 2012 , The Kenyan Mom website went live (cue fireworks and overflowing champagne). There is one thing I like more than I dislike change. Sharing. It makes me feel like I’m not alone in the world. Then there is something I like even more than sharing. Taking heed of wise counsel. Over the course of this year and part of last year, I’ve had friends and family tell me that I need to open up Kenyan Mom for other moms to participate in. I’ve even had one brave soul say to me that I’m not the only Kenyan Mom in Kenya (you don’t want to know which one of their eyes is still a good shade of black). Still, these are people of noble intentions and after day and night of fighting the ‘devil of change resistance’, here we all are. Welcome to Kenyan Mom’s new home! Let’s enjoy the ride together!

Birthday

I was rudely reminded that today is my birthday by a call in the wee hours of the morning by my best friend. I know I said something, which I don’t remember because I was half asleep. Now I will not call her lest she’s waiting on the other side with a bucket load of whiplash.

Today however I’m celebrating good friends, the readers, good fortune and good health. Let’s face it. Some of us have loved and lost loved ones. In the grand scheme of things, God’s grace alone has allowed us to see today. Celebrate life.

What Not

Ok , not just any ‘What Not’ this time round. Picture if you will. You are walking down a street. You bump into someone who is in a hurry. And I mean the kind of bumping that leaves your shoulder sore for days. After muttering profanity either out loud or under your breath and probably wagging a fist at the now retreating back of the supposed offender for good measure, do you stop to wonder why that happened?

My friend Mark Kaigwa told me the other day, there are no chance meetings. No chance encounters. While God had the good sense not to grant us foresight (I would so get into gambling with such sight!), it does help to make note of these encounters, try and see how they fit in your day, what you are going through or where you are in your life. Not very easy I know but if you think of such encounters, in hindsight, things tend to fall snuggly in place!

Everyone comes to your life because you need them or they need you! Take ‘chance’ encounters seriously. You might learn a thing or three!

Oh, lest I forget, you wanna give writing a shot? Here’s your chance! Send me a story about anything. Go wild. If me and the voices in my head like it, you get published on The Kenyan Mom. Because I truly believe there are awesome writers out there.

Live long. Live happy my friends.