Greetings!
Yesterday, being Friday, I had a funny encounter with two children who always seem to be tough to handle whenever they're together. They're also fun to watch once they start their drama. They're no siblings, they're just friends but merely looking at them, one would think they're twins.
Around 5:00 p.m. yesterday, I was seated outside in the compound, enjoying the fresh air, when these two children came in and started running around. I wasn't bothered until they went over to the tap in the compound. The tap wasn't locked, so they started fetching water and splashing it on themselves. I quickly chased them away, but they began to cry because, according to them, they wanted to have a bath, and I was stopping them instead of encouraging them. Lol. Over here, in my part of the world, water is likened to gold because we rarely have electricity to pump it. We often have to buy expensive fuel to pump water, so it shouldn't be wasted.
To compensate, I allowed them to fetch water into a bucket, then I locked the tap afterward. While I was pretending not to notice what they were doing, they added detergent they found on the ground—left behind by someone in the compound—into the water and started making foam. They then dragged the water close to a motorcycle that had been parked there for almost two weeks. I believe the motorcycle had a fault, which is why it was left there. These boys decided to wash it and make it clean, and that's when I decided to record them.
I couldn't help but laugh as I recorded because it was so thoughtful of them. Normally, no child in my part of the world would willingly wake up and decide to wash his father's motorcycle; it's always considered a big task. I used to frown upon such chores when I was at home and told to wash the motorcycle. So, it was quite touching to see them washing the bike playfully.
However, as they splashed water on the bike and started dragging some extended wires, it became less funny because I worried they might cause more damage to the motorcycle. I gently asked them to stick to just one part of the motorcycle and stop tugging at the wires near the engine, but they shook their heads in disagreement. I considered stopping them altogether because of the risk they were causing with the wires, but that would mean a lot of shouting and running around trying to chase them off. I wasn't ready for all that; I had only come outside to relax, not to engage in a marathon chase.
So, instead, I called them over to watch the video I had recorded of them. They were delighted when they heard about the video and rushed over to my side. I played it for them, and they laughed, completely abandoning the motorcycle washing. I won! Children can never beat the wisdom of an adult.
Thanks for reading.
*Photos and the video are mine