#mynotsonormalkid#

Why are you surprised at my caption? Huh, well its true because my baby is not so normal. Quite frankly,I'm so glad he ain't normal; He sleeps way past his bedtime and what's he doing? Learning to draw and color of course! Benjamin saw a powerful movie of another #notsonormal# Indian kid who loved to paint and immediately developed a love for painting and now instead of watching his favorite cartoons videos all day, he spends much time experimenting with colors with his tiny fingers and an artist's paintbrush on any white surface he can find (and that includes my bedroom walls). Ohhh Benji, is different indeed: he wakes up sometimes in the middle of the night to kiss my cheeks and then go back to sleep. He jumps right into my arms when he sets his eyes on me soon as I say the words "Hi baby, I'm home!". Sometimes, when I hear my siblings make comments like "y'all make childbirth look so attractive", I blush and thank my God quietly that I kept this child even when I didn't feel ready enough to have him. Today, I have many reasons to come home, many inspirations to go and work, I'm encouraged to invest and save because he the reason for my ambitions. Parents, show that child love like he/she was the only thing that mattered in this entire world. Cheer them on, even when they are scoring low in school, hug, kiss, and tell them that "I love u". Don't compare them to other kids, because that child is unique and who wants to be normal anyway? Be Extraordinary, that's who I have found my boy to be. He turns six tomorrow and I have a classic set of arts toolkit for his new found hobby, as well as a piano and a music teacher ready. This is how I parent my child, not by anyone's standards, but by how I am led by God 's word to train him. And just in case you're thinking that you need money first to show love, you are wrong because your child already thinks you are the richest person alive! Take my advice, show that child some true love.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on Tigo Ghana Network

I HATE YOU WITH A PASSION!!!

You make me sick
You make my tummy turn
The sight of you disgusts me
I look around and see the destruction you've caused in this world
The homes you have broken and the dreams you shattered
Relationships you wrecked
I hate you with a Passion
You make me sick!
Like an allergy...
We will fight you with every cell of our being
To ensure that you are completely expunged
From generation to generation
You can't stay with us anymore,
You know why because WISDOM has come
Knowledge uncovered and
Understanding is given us
Through God's word
Poverty, you have No place with us here!

Its who I am.

"Mommy, can I go to school now?" He'd ask me this question every morning after we have done our routine fights over brushing his teeth, getting into the bath tub and arguing over whether the water is hot enough or too cold. Whew!, I admit sometimes i feel bored and exhausted in the mornings - its as though I literally do the same things over and over again; for example, it takes forever to get Benji out of bed  sometimes i have to spank him gently, yell out his name continuously or even sprinkle water over his sleepy face. What a sight that is! when he suddenly jumps out of his bed, takes deep breaths and rubs his eyes unwillingly while muttering a few words under his breath. He always wakes up with a frown on his face (which is why i tickle him on the belly until i hear him giggle his heart out). Of course, there are those days when that "magic" just doesn't work on his moody demeanor and i end up getting a hard kick as i lean over his tiny body or a "mummy stop that!"
Notwithstanding, we get through these routines just fine. I love my son very much, and I make sure to remind him of that daily.Lately, i have noticed how fast he is growing and how much information he absorbs from his  surroundings; television, conversations, school, friends,and gadgets around the house. Dear Lord, that boy even knows how to use his grandma's iPAD and galaxy tab!  Its exciting for me to know that my 6-year-old boy has a better start in life than i did while growing up. However, I have to be more protective of him in order to ensure that the world doesn't pollute his spirit with thoughts of lack, failure, fear, death, sickness, promiscuity or poverty.Thus, undoing all the long hours of  moral values, virtues and God's Word I have taught him.

Everyday, i remind him of how SMART. SPECIAL and IMPORTANT hi is to God, his family and the entire world. This is how i protect my precious CHILD in a world full of hate, filth, and darkness.

I CRIED

On that gloomy Tuesday, I had just finished a great meeting with the MD of Energy Bank at Ridge-Accra and was feeling quite good about myself.  While i was heading for the parking lot, i received a message from a colleague on my blackberry that read "Uncle Atta is dead!" Uncle Atta was how he was affectionately called , and that was how I was informed about the sudden death of Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills, the then president of Ghana an flag-bearer of the NDC party. 

Unbelievable-Impossible-Shocking- Heart-wrenching...all these were  mixed feelings and thoughts that went through my mind within a matter of seconds. It was as a dream. Immediately, i turned on the radio in my car hoping that this message would be one of those unfair pranks the opposition party and ill-wishers had pulled out on this noble man in the past, but Man, I was wrong.

Tears run down my face uncontrollably. I felt closer to him all of a sudden; even-though i had neither knew him personally or knew anyone who did. Almost as though I had lost a covering, a shepherd, a Father. When i heard the genre of music being played as its usually done in the Ghanaian culture, my heart sunk! I immediately picked up my phones to call my parents, but neither one of them worked at that moment, then i dialed my boyfriend's number and that couldn't go through either. I begun to breath deeper and harder; it felt as though i was choking on my own breaths. I needed someone special, one that I could trust to talk to yet i didn't really understood why it was so important to call them at that time. Then, i closed my eyes and begun to pray while still sitting in my car; then it dawned on me that there was no air around me because I hadn't turned the air condition on; hence, the difficulty in breathing.

Honestly, i felt so distraught by the unpleasant  news that I could only hear myself saying "NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!!
For the next few weeks the entire nation was thrown into a state of grief. Several questions were raised as the various media were replete with the lifetime achievements of the man as well as questions regarding the manner in which his frail health was handled leading to his death. 

In fact, Ghanaians are indeed respectful of the dead; and this general attitude may be viewed as hypocritical in most cases. Personally, i was thankful to God that the divided nature of our political views which hitherto almost threatened our national peace, had been smothered into profound unity at the death of this man. Many people who used to speak against him, taunt his ill-health and publicly disagreed with his administration, were all of a sudden showing him love. How ironic?

If Prof was "a fine gentleman" indeed, why didn't we all say so genuinely while he was with us? instead of waiting until his demise before blurting out all forms of "sugar-coated" words about what a great man he was and how much his life impacted the nation he so dearly loved.

Indeed Ghanaians behave in a certain way when its funeral time! the most shocking of them to me were those people who on an ordinary day couldn't afford 3 decent meals for their families or pay their children's school fees, yet had the effrontery to "invest" in the prescribed funeral cloths, alcoholic drinks, music bands, tents and chairs in the name of "ye di awer3ho" ...WE ARE MOURNING.
Let us not deceive our selves, who or what exactly were some people mourning about?

I believe in showing genuine LOVE and RESPECT for people in authority (the Bible calls them Kings and Priests), irrespective of our political affiliations let us not disrespect, taunt and despise the man (or somebody else for that matter) and then wait until his death to rain eulogies of him and condolences to his people. That is outright cruelty!

When does it finally end?...Unheard voices.

Everyone is talking about it. Very strange, though because they are whispering it all over as if the wind will hear and take it away. Its actually not a secret anymore; after all, everybody around has heard the news, shared their views and stretched the pews. I know about it. BUT why aren't they saying anything? Wait a minute...this is serious! I have never seen such an open display of ignorance in any society. The health of the people is at great risk, matter of fact, the future of a whole generation is at the verge of extinction. Sadly, they don't even realize that they have been handed the shorter end of the stick. How does a people come this far? Abject poverty and filth surrounds them, they lack access to clean, drinkable water, and live in wooded slums of less that 6*6ft with their families. More that 60% of their teenage girls are single mothers, most of who make less than $2 a day. Education, they believe is a waste of time; so, both adults and children work tirelessly on the beach as fishermen and laborers respectively. The last time I went there, the young men told me they didn't believe going to school would change their life outcome. As though they had been sentenced to the "lowly life". Hmmm I shook my head in disbelieve, such great and youthful minds left to go waste because some greedy,irresponsible and over ambitious people in high offices have capitalized on their illiteracy and taken them for granted. A few months ago, I came into contact with a bizarre sex video between a 10 year old girl and a 5 year old boy. My stomach turned in disgust as I watched two precious kids being destroyed by social norms they are oblivious of as they engaged in an act that seemed common to them. Unbelievably appalling, right? This is the state of a community right in the capital city of Accra-Ghana, known as CHORKOR.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on Tigo Ghana Network

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