Oh No, Not Again!! 😩😩

Parents have the most erratic tendencies and most, if not all of the time, their kids are at the receiving end of their new discovery or adventure of the season. For some, it could be a new pill, or a new routine, or a new spice, or a new discovery about some disease or a new trend or information, most of which we have to sit and watch these laughable and obviously edited WhatsApp videos and read super long and unexciting broadcast messages. Surely you have been a victim of your parent’s love, care and curiosity.

Taking a short nap after morning devotion is like the crux of my morning, it’s equivalent to a daily dose of caffeine… if I do say so myself. So hearing my name that morning as the output of my mother’s yell was a real puzzle to me. After long minutes of bewilderment at the tone of her voice, and mustering the strength to stand up, I finally did, brokenheartedly of course and went out to meet my mom. And there she stood in all her motherly glory with garden tools, seedlings and a large smile of determination on her face. If only the tone of her voice rendered me startled and left me puzzled, then this vision of my mom all armored up had me drowning in the pool of confusion. All that went through my mind in that moment was “Oh no not again“

Ignoring all the tools which bothered me was hard, but then I was able to look past that and just return her smile and ask her why she called me. Expecting and at the same time praying against the obvious response and still trying to figure out the situation, she broke the news that would change the course of my very long break forever and ever and ever (dramatic emphasis intended). The last time I held a hoe was probably in secondary school and trust me, those memories were better left undisturbed. But as you would have guessed, I’m not the best at, you know, agricultural processes (lol I would have just said farming/gardening but naaaah). But this was the beginning of something I would come to love and appreciate.

So standing opposite my mom, still in between sleep and the reality of having to weed around the small space, which would come to be our garden, and with my least favorite invention of man (a hoe), my mother’s exuberance was somewhat disturbing but I managed to snap out of it and just focus on doing something completely away from what I’d been doing. So we started with sweet melons, corn, okra and proceeded to peppermint leaves, cucumber, garden eggs, pepper, alefo, tomatoes, waterleaf, basil leaves and a variety of other things. In the beginning waking up in the morning and having to miss my short nap which is most of the sleep I get, just to make sure the plants are watered the days it didn’t rain or just to check on their progress was a bother to me, I didn’t like it but then I got used to it and after a while I even started to look forward to it.

The thing I realized about gardening was that it spared me time to think, breathe and feel positive energy coupled with the joy of experiencing growth from scratch. I got to realize and learn lessons that weren’t in books or classrooms, things that only experience could teach and the most important lesson I learnt and will like to share is that growth is such a slow and hard process. Then there’s also the role of the sun and water which to me symbolizes the kind and amount of energy, influence and information we expose ourselves to. The sun is good for plants but when it becomes too much it burns that same plant and the same goes for the rain. As they say overwatering a plant is more dangerous than not watering it at all.

In a nutshell, growth is a gradual process and even if it seems or feels like you’re in a difficult time remember that the seedlings are first buried in the soil before they actually sprout and embark on their gradual journeys to maturity. So take it easy on yourself and surround yourself with the right energy and the right kind of influence.

Hey family! I know, I know, it’s a pretty long read but hey it was totally worth it wasn’t it? 😁😁🤗🤗. Don’t forget to drop your two cents in the comment section below, like and share. Have a lovely rest of the day and week. 😘😘😘