And we're baaacckkkk.... hehe... consistency is hard to come by right...
Some thoughts from last night...and this goes to my mum...I call her Pretty Woman...others the Queen Mother...great woman she is...
I have grown up in what people have termed a "single parent" home... I have been raised by my mum...and me and my sisters agree that she has done a great job raising us up, especially taking into account what it has cost her and also looking at what she has achieved in life...
Growing up, there are many things that I took for granted. There are lessons mum was teaching me that I did not appreciate at the time, in fact at times it felt like punishment. But I am now seeing the fruits and in hindsight I acknowledge the role that my mum played... some of the lessons may have come because of the prevailing circumstances.. but I still cherish them and applaud my mum for having the wisdom to use those circumstances as an opportunity to teach me so many valuable lessons on life...
From a young age, my mum gave me responsibilities... from as young as 7 or 8 I learnt to wash my clothes... starting with the small things and later graduating...when I was 10 I learnt how to cook nsima (for those who are not from Malawi, this is our staple food) and I mastered how to cook vegetables to an extent that for the next couple of years, I was asked to be the one to cook vegetables...during the same period.. when I was 9-11.. I learnt how to take care of my living space... I remember we would have a general cleaning session every Saturday... we would clean up the pantry, our rooms, the living room, the kitchen...whichever room was picked for that weekend...later on, when I was 12... I remember living just the 2 of us... me and my mum... she would prepare lunch before she left for work...and would prepare supper as well.. my job was to make sure the kitchen was clean before going to bed... so I would clean the plates, the pots and wipe all surfaces... we did not have house help...which, at the time, felt like punishment...
When I first moved out of my mum's house last year, I was struck by how the lessons had stuck with me. I was cooking and I found myself washing whatever I was using, utensils, plates, boards etc...such that by the time I had finished cooking, the only things that remained to be washed were the pots I was using and the plates we would use to eat from... it hit me... this is Ms. Liwewe at work haha... the thought came again this week as I was preparing some food for myself...
Today, I look back and I appreciate all the lessons that I learnt... today I can cook for myself, I wash my own clothes...and no... I did not use a washing machine..and I can look after my living space...
So this is to say thank you to the greatest woman I know... MY MOTHER... thank you for all the valuable life lessons you gave...
The greatest fear I had raising you all was dying before you guys were independent enough to look after yourselves. All my close friends died young. And were I to die early you guys were going to experience a lot of hardship with whomever. Hence the tough lessons thank God they are life skills that have made your lives easy.
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