Having younger siblings can be chaotic, don't judge me, I had to grow up having four of them behind me, I'm the first, I know what people say about being the first child I enjoyed the most love and care from my parent and didn't have to share at the first few years of my life, but others were left with no choice but to share all their lives. Ok, I get it, there is love in sharing right but how come I was restricted from sharing one thing I like that their presence brought 'Baby Milk'
I was about 9 years of age when my mum brought our last-born sister home from the hospital, making us all four girls, Treasure, the second born was five, as small as she was, you know the adorable more slim-looking one, with a disguise of calmness on the outside, yea, that's what everyone thinks, but I have been there all her life to know it is all a disguise, you should see her as an adult now, how my persistent argument about her not being as calm they thought she was gets proven, but let's not digress and move to the third born,
Jessy, the little mischievous three years old, who thinks in her head she is a boy and always proves it with her actions, sometimes I wish she indeed was a boy, but biology says no with her privates as evidence, the irony of it all is that the troublesome and mischievous one, who was more like to be accused most times when things are not in place turns out to be the most calm of us all as an adult, maybe she exhausted all that energy as a child and didn't have any left now except the calmness she had in reserve.
As for me, being the eldest had me display both sides, till date I'm not still sure which side I'm on. Living in a Nigerian home setting as a firstborn, you are already mandated a role as an assistant mother and caretaker of your siblings, truthfully I needed a break and some time to myself sometimes, but mum wouldn't allow it, and when my sibling gets injured or does something wrong I usually receive the blame and sometimes it comes with little punishment, so I had no choice than be the leader of this little group, make sure they behave and when we become mischievous we had to be united in it as well.
On this day, mum was out with our lastborn baby sister, to the hospital for immunization, I'm not sure what month she was then, but mum had already started giving her baby cereals and milk,
'I won't stay long'
She had told me before she left and asked that we behave well and not scatter the house before she returned, I believe that instruction was particularly directed to me to take care of them well.
As soon as she left the gate, one mischievous thought came to my mind, why not have a spoon of baby milk, I thought, I've sometimes been given a baby's leftover or tip of baby powdered milk as a 'well done' after following mum's instructions on certain things, but that insatiable part of me wanted more, especially seeing no one was at home.
I sneaked into Mum's room, leaving my other two sisters in the sitting room whom I thought were fixated on the cartoon displacing on our box television, searched for a spoon, as I had always seen Mum open the tin lid with a spoon, and carefully slid it open, the milky aroma of the baby milk swift through my nostrils as my brain send more signal of wanting this so badly, I scooped a spoonful into my mouth savoring the taste as it collides with my taste bud, maybe I must have closed my eyes in satisfaction, because the Ah! Exclamation from a second intruder, my sister Treasure quickly made me open them.
'I will tell mummy for you' deh deh she added, as she turned her stance to a song
'shush' I responded immediately, 'Oya, come and take' Don't tell mummy okay?'
but before she could reply, Jessy followed, making us all three culprits, 'promise not to tell mummy?' I asked them, as I scooped more spoonfuls of baby milk into their mouth, and more into mine, carefully closed the lid, and kept it exactly as mum had placed it,
We went back to the sitting room and continued with our various activities or distractions
I never had a reason to be bothered, so I thought we were all partners in crime, so no one would talk, but as soon as my mum came back, we all jumped on her with hugs to welcome her, and the pretentious saint instantly let the cat out of the bag, as if it would have exploded her brain if she didn't,
'Mummy, Glory gave me only one spoon of baby milk and took three spoons for herself' so she counted,
I stood there frozen, shocked that she just broke a promise of not telling Mum, while Jessy looked at me with a mischievous smile but kept quiet as she fiddled with the toy in her hand.
Mum scolded me for behaving in that manner, explaining how I just ruined baby's expensive milk leaving her with nothing to eat now, and worst was my action of lying and teaching my younger ones to keep secret, she eventually changed the position of where she kept baby milk thereafter, as for myself, I knew who to trust and not, I also learned my lesson not to go behind mummy's back because even without being told, she would always find out.
As the days went by, I reflected on my actions and realized that my desire for the baby milk had clouded my judgment. I had let my curiosity and temptation get the better of me, and it had led to trouble. But, to my surprise, my mum didn't dwell on the incident. Instead, she used it as a teaching moment to show me the importance of responsibility and honesty.
Image 1 is generated using AI
Image 2 is mine