this design was made from canva
Every man is somehow a product of what and how their childhood was spent. It is expected that children learn from their parents, teachers and elderly; children we learn almost everyday, they get many corrections and sometimes get spanked just to make sure mistakes are not repeated.
Growing up in this part of the world, the grown up believe children can't be perfect and sometimes it annoys but it for the better; the older ones always look out for mistakes that ought to be corrected immediately so that a child would not get used to it till it becomes a part of that child. The form of correction might seems harsh but that's how it has been, God knows how long it has been. Most times if the child is still so little, let say, age 6-10, they usually get slapped on the back or on the bum. Age 10 upwards might get beaten with a thin rod or belt; the beating depends on the weight of the offense a child commits. Growing up, my parents didn't abuse me while trying to correct me unlike some parent that I witnessed when they disciplined their children, they literally would beat like they want to remove a part of the child. I'm glad that things aren't like that anymore, there are now better ways to correct a child.
Things I Learnt As A Child That Has Become A Part of Me
Respect: My culture is so big on respect, you can't joke with it because every form of disrespect is frowned at. As far as I can remember, my parent will correct me several times that I ought to respect my siblings at all time even when they are wrong and I am right, I should still respect them. It was not so easy to not talk back at older ones when you are 100% right but I learnt how to and I now know why I shouldn't disrespect any one. One of the reason is because, an older person has more experience of so many things that a younger child doesn't and disrespecting a older person simply means you might never get to learn or get help if you disrespect older persons.
Basic Morals: these are morals that are expected of every sane human, such as greetings (depends on tribe), modesty in speech, dressing and appearance. My parents were so particular about dressing, plus they hold important position in our place of worship so we must never been seen dressing anyhow. Honesty and integrity were also part of what I learnt while growing up. Fact about where I grew up, once a child had told a lie more than twice, that child becomes a known liar. How? Any adult such child lied to would narrate the scenerio to another till it spread and everyone in the community is aware of it. The intention behind this is to make the child feel so bad and wrong his/her right.
Behaviour / Character: I am glad that I was brought up among elders who seems strict and always prepared to correct every mistakes no matter how little it might be. In aspect of behaviour, my tribe has this culture that allow any elder discipline a child that has committed an offense. As long as the parent of the child who committed an offense are well known, they have right to discipline such child. Most times, they do this by just talking and you would agree with me that there are ways words can be used as a form of correction; imagine at least 2 to 3 persons who are way older than you are talking to you just to correct you. Often times, it feels harsh when they correct us this way and seems that they hate us but that's not it, they only do it out of love. Growing up with in this kind of setting has shaped me well to know the good behaviours from the bad ones.
Love: My parent are typical examples of showing love to others, they taught me how to love everyone by doing it themselves. My parents taught me to love because love brings unspeakable joy, peace and harmony among people. One example I can't forget is whenever we harverst our plantain. I have lost count the number of times my parent would harvest a bunch of plantain from the backyard and make sure they give friends and neighbours who aren't doing so well; I used to be angry because what would be left might not be up to 10 plantains for a family of 5. (I love plantain a lot, so it annoys me to see her do that all the time). Later on, I understood the power of love, giving and sharing. Now, I think I have also developed that habit of giving selflessly to others.
These are the major lessons I grew up with and they have become part of me, they made me who I am today and I do not regret learning any of them. I would make sure to pass it down to my children and to people's lives that I get to impact.
One major thing I grew up with and I would not like to pass on to my children is being over reserved. I grew up in a home where we do not really associate with a large number of people, though we had family friends and good neighbours but we grew in a way that had made us to be so reserved and it affected me a lot each time I go outside, I could not get along with just anyone. I couldn't associate with others. I am better now but I still feel I need to work on my social life and connect with great minds better.
This is my entry for #aprilinleo day 16 of the inleo initiative. You can also learn more about it here
I made the thumbnail design for this post on canva
Thank You For Reading Till The End.