He comes back from work to behold a sumptuous meal at the dinning. His wife has been home all day
treating Tolu, their first child, who was ill. “So stressed!” Father said as he collapsed on the dinning chair
ready to devour the food before him, he loosen his tie to ease digestion.
Five minutes into the meal he exclaims “Iya Tolu!!!!” He called his wife. “How long will I continue to lament? This food is salty”.
“My dear, I am sorry” Mother said calmly.
“Sorry for yourself, don’t you have taste buds?”
Father hissed, walks into his room and slams the door behind him.
Silence elopes the house, everyone wanted to break the silence but no one dared.
As if in answers to everyone’s prayer, Bolu runs into the sitting shouting at sick Tolu “How would you, how would you eat my fifty naira gala, do you know how much I saved to get the gala?”
Father hears Bolu and storms the sitting room in rage.
“Bolu, you dare not speak to your sister like that, she is your elder sister”.
“Dad, she ate my gala”.
“Shut up boy, she is also too sick for this trash”.
“That’s how you treat mum” Bolu murmurs as Father turns his back to leave the sitting room.
“What audacity!” Father says, slapping Bolu.
Dear reader, Away from the fiction, this is the picture of many homes. Yes, parents are still together under the same roof, yet questions arise as to how and why they got married as there is the absence of respect for each partner in the union. Children grow up to believe that in order to be heard and respected one need to be aggressive in enforcing respect. Interestingly, it may build the children into having fear for either of the parents without sincere respect.
They develop some form of fear which may be considered as respect by the feared parent. Children in such environment may grow up with an unhealthy perception on how to interact with their spouse. These are the future of tomorrow. We clamour online that parents should train their children to respect the personality of another. Dear parents, your children learn faster through your actions compared to the round table talks you have with them. Truely, “Action speaks louder than words”.
©️ ADEYEMO, JESUTOFUNMI JANET