@Prisca

My weekend... It all started on Wednesday or maybe Thursday when I noticed I don't receive my little tips. I became unhappy because I have planned on how to manage the money gotten from here to do something, it was going to alter it. I was helpless and couldn't do anything. You see what I have learned to take things as they turn up to be in life. I had begun doing some thinking on how to cover up. Everything was happening too fast... I visited some articles here comments and did some engagements. Meanwhile, I had wanted to join a particular group to adopt a platform but mum could not help me amend my khaki trousers. I'm very busy and usually come home at night. From work, I go to my private classes, and from there go to help mum at her business. So I gave my mum some cash and my khaki trousers to amend because what the government gives to us as nysc uniforms are usually undersized or oversized. Because of this, I couldn't go to our platform meetings. That evening, the rain came with a heavy breeze driving the atmosphere of the moment into our dry skins. All of a sudden everywhere was flooded. I had to deep legs into the water to go home. That night I became tired and decided to sleep without visiting here. Hubby called and we did a video chit chat all of a sudden we had a misunderstanding. Friday morning was my father-in-law's 70th birthday. I began calling hubby to wish his dad a happy birthday before he leaves for his home because he came around to spend his leave with his parents. I felt to give it time... Reaching work I got a query for not completing my work and the term is about ending. By noon, I had to mum-in-law to wish dad a happy birthday, she wasn't picking. I got scared. Was there any issue? Later mum-in-called, and I asked to give him the phone. And we talked. I prayed for him in my little way and wished him a happy birthday again. She said the birthday will be celebrated on Sunday. Later in the evening, boo finally picked my call and we trashed our misunderstanding. Saturday crept in and we all began preparing for my cousin's wedding. I had left earlier to join the choristers that will be singing. I was able to locate the address and joined in the rehearsal. There was a section for the choruses and the chairman's opening remark. Later we were told to dance to usher in the couple which we did. I began assisting my mum to prepare a native food 'ugba' she had prepared to serve some unique persons. The turnout was a bit poor, people did not come to the wedding. A big cooler of rice remained despite we shared it out. It was time to go home, I had to order for bolt because of the loads and then my sister and her kids. The car could only contain aside my friend and I. You could imagine I got home before them. Mummy complained that the driver said he was following map to locate our area thereby entering traffic. Inshort, he went back to dying twice because of his inexperience. When they finally reached the house, he checked the app and what was supposed to be 1000-1400 ($2-$3) initially became $6. Mum said she wasn't going to pay that initially, she wanted to take public transport but we were insisting on using a bolt. I had to talk sense into the driver that despite he was using a map he should know roads. How can one start a driving business in Lagos without knowing the streets of Lagos? It's going into a business without having mastery of it. In the end, he dropped my sister and her children in their own house while my sister paid...

The curse on us... We were not meant to die. Man was supposed to live till eternity, and no one would grow old. We were meant to live a life of happiness with no struggle. We were to eat and wine without labouring for it but it all started from the garden. Women were supposed to bring forth their offspring without pains but... As if that wasn't enough, our fathers and brothers who are to work and feed our mouths will sweat and till mother earth before they can do that. The garden was supposed to be our inheritance but we are now slaves... We were told the story of our first parents... They were to live in the garden forever but disobeyed by eating the forbidden fruit. Since then... Our mothers and sisters died in childbearing. Have you seen any mother who had carried a fetus in her womb with much ease and pains? No, I haven't seen nor I don't think it happens. I still hear some mothers who say "this my son did not give me trouble while I carried him in my womb, he came out without difficulty". Now this less difficulty here doesn't mean he came swimming out without obstructions rather the travail was less. She pushed without much agony as some women do. But some women had died in childbearing, while some had groaned in pain before bearing the child. I know of a woman who told me that her spirit was already leaving the hospital but a being commanded her to go back to her body. Another said she had given birth but became too weak to give life a chance. As her soul was moving, she stopped to challenge the person who was taking her that she has an assignment with her music director which she hasn't finished. That she would want to go back to finish the work. That was how she came back to life. I don't a child yet but when our mothers talk about the pain they go through during childbirth, you would have to question God. What about the bleeding, what about the cesarian operation that takes time to heal. These are the curses... Our fathers on the verge of giving us a good life, die. Or have you not heard, how some men will go to their offices only to come back with their corpse or they call the family that they are being rushed to the hospital. Or you haven't noticed, our fathers die too quickly. This is because they stress themselves to make ends meet. And now, to make the money is hard work. Everything Man does, if he doesn't put his might into it, it won't prosper. These are the curses... No wonder, we all have their names that are these trendy sicknesses... But, cancer wasn't there from the onset, diabetes wasn't there, chronic diseases, silent killer diseases to mention but a few weren't from the garden but they were the curses due to disobedience of our first parents... Pls, I'm open to sponsorship.

My weekend... Pls, I want to deviate a little. I had promised to write the remaining part of "always watch your back", but I want to quickly do this before writing them. This was yesterday being Saturday. I usually plan myself but during the week and at weekends. So likewise yesterday which was the weekend I had planned my activities. I had told you guys at a time that I am into an investment in a property. So as God may have it, I had been able to pay 70 percent of my money and my property will be allocated that Saturday. At first, it was as if wasn't going to work because our 'alawee' was delayed and the deadline was getting close. The school where I teach for my PPA has refused to pay us and so I was so dependent on that alawee. I was so angry, everyone was angry because we all have our problems to solve with that money. At last, the money came at a day to the closure of the stuff. Let me deviate a little... I am into real estate. We sell already built houses and drylands. Our lands are located at Atan and very affordable. We also have at Mowe or anywhere of your choice. The importance of acquiring landed properties can not it ignored. Landed properties appreciates when you buy, you leave for years and resell. When you resell you tend to get more than thrice and more of what you bought. Or you can build on it and rent it out or live in it and save yourself from unnecessary drama from some funny Landlords... Or what some people do is this, they build on it and use the rent paid to them by their tenants to pay the high bills they pay in the big towns and cities. If you live on earth without calling a small portion your own you would remain a slave. And they far very affordable, you can use the tips rusty pays to fond this project. Let us go back to our gist... I paid and told hubby he would follow me to know my portion and he was able to clear his schedule to join me. Hubby picked me at a particular junction and we headed to their head office at Egbeda. When we got there, I joined the seminar that has kicked off. At 11 am, we started our journey. Meanwhile, I got to meet my friend Esther a colleague at work but NYSC separated us, she was unable to work has to Lagos but she's currently in Ogun state. My friend and a colleague with a staff of the company accompanied us in the car. Thirty minutes into our journey, hubby's car broke down and we all have to come down. Luckily for us, we saw a mechanic who told us that it would take two hours to work on the car. I became frustrated. I knew I had been having distractions from coming for this allocation which I had fought and overcome. Two hours we were still there. We became hungry. So my friend and I bought some snacks and I also bought some for hubby. What was supposed to be two hours turned out to be four hours and more. Everything finished at some minutes past four, and so we couldn't continue on our journey. We boarded the car and turned back home. I began feeling bad for putting in such stress😓. I tried apologising but he said this is what he is supposed to do and there was nothing wrong. We were allocated our plots in absentia but hubby promised he will take me back there in two weeks since he is familiar with the roads. Getting home, I was famished and I asked there to give me whatever they have cooked as food that I could eat a human being considering the was I was hungry. This is what I had as dinner; beans and plantain with pap and milk. I never knew I could finish this meal but I devoured it, Lol... I finished this and woke up with a running stomach this morning😂😂...

Watch your back... What does it mean? When someone is trying to reverse his vehicle and uses his back to maybe nearly hit someone what do you say? "Driver pls o watch your back". You are trying to caution him right? In general, what am I implying? Watch your back, watch what you do to people. Some people take advantage of people who may be their authority and trample upon them. David was the youth leader. His dad and mum were the priests of the Church. Everyone loved the way David had chosen to follow the path of his parent unlike some kids of leaders who do not follow the right steps which their parents have trodden. And so he was the yardstick for every youth in the church. Every parent wants their children to be like David because of his good moral style. He got a job and was doing well. Soon the church made him the youth coordinator to show the younger youth how to be good Christian and have a good career. Trust our mothers, they would want their children to go close and emulate such a lifestyle. Nanya was on such youths. She is tall and elegantly built, chocolate in complexion, and extremely pretty. She was one of the many female youths that flung around David. As a kid of 15yrs, she is bound to have some form of infatuation for him because of his position in life and the church. Seeing this feeble mind having some of the feelings for him, he began to take advantage of her. He deflowered her promising her marriage. At first, she hadn't wanted to give to his luring but because of his position and he is every girl's dream. They kept their love affair simple and secretly. Nanya soon gained admission and left home for school. She and David were still in touch. All of a sudden, he stopped picking her calls neither does he return the calls. She began hearing some of the lists that David is about to be married to a Deacon's daughter who had studied abroad. She wanted to confirm it and called David but he ignored the call. She chose to drop a message with him on WhatsApp. And she typed, "I heard you are about getting married, is that true?" But David responded, "keep hearing to gossip". Her hands that were trembling have now begun to be stable. She was now a bit relaxed, I mean she has built her world around David, every plans she makes about her life she had considered David. If he wasn't going to marry her, why lead her on and keep the promises of marriage. With all these in her mind, she dozed off. A month later, she was already to her final exams, David sent her his wedding IV. 'Wow', she thought to herself, men are terrible. With the bitterness in her heart and eyes full of tears, she began to lay curses upon him. She was outrightly calling his name and cursing him. She was back home finally from school, she had wanted to remain in school and stay away from the wedding but her mum kept disturbing her about coming home. Nanya finally came home but had decided not to attend the wedding. Her mum was shocked because she knew they were both close but like a father and daughter relationship. Nanya began blaming herself because she saw those signs in her dream on two occasions. First, she dreamt that she wore her wedding garment and was waiting for me. Everyone was all seated in the church but he hasn't come but could see one of his friends. She kept on waiting and woke up from her sleep. The second was that she came to a wedding party and she heard it was David and his bride. She wanted to confirm and began moving close to see for herself, and she woke up. As she remembers this, she blamed herself for not listening to the dreams. She knew God saved her though that he was never hers. She dusts her buttocks and moved on with her life. 5yrs into his marriage, David's wife is yet to conceive but she is married with a son. She got married three years after David left her and she saw the reason God was preparing her for. The pain is no longer there, she has long since forgiven him, and times prays that his wife conceives. We just need to be careful with the way we live our life else you hurt people and it comes back to haunt us. I will be giving this in series, these life issues I saw happened so it's not a cooked story. Let's be guided...the evil that men do, lives after them.

My stress was stressful... Hahaha...in my country we know well how to magnify things. You would hear someone say "my tired is tired". How about me now saying " my stress is stressful". But you see eh, funny enough this sentence sends a message. If I walk up to you to tell you " I am tired"... and someone else comes to tell you "my tired is tired". Who do you think will be so worn out? The latter I guess, Lol. So when you hear someone saying " my tired is tired" you should know it means extremely tiredness. Last week was too busy for me and stressful. I can boldly say I have that skill which says "ability to work under pressure". Ok, I had some experience, having such skills of working under pressure. On the upper Sunday, I was opportune to lay hands on some western examination. As an examiner, we had to go through some training on how to allocate marks and score students. After this training, you would then be given nothing less than two hundred and fifty-something scripts. Well, I got two hundred and forty-four scripts. When I got home that Sunday, I decided to eat and rest before marking. I ate, rested, and had a little chit-chat with hubby. And I picked the first script to mark to my amazement, this candidate only wrote his or her name and submitted the answer sheet. Out of anger, I came here to express my disappointment which I tagged " what went wrong". I'm not going to go into that now. I was able to mark throughout the night, I marked as far as 1 is into the night. Thanks to my hubby, who called and kept me company. I began marking the following day which was Monday. I was shocked that these children can't express themselves in a good construe sentence. Some used abbreviations to write, oh...I weep. While some couldn't spell a word as simple as 'number'. What about writing out of the point or when they were asked to comment on a character in the book "invisible man" and the candidates began writing about spirits...I weep for our present-day students. I was able to mark over two hundred scripts my Tuesday but my eyes were suffering it. I tried to catch some sleep but it was shortened because of the urgency in the submission of the marked script. On Wednesday, I went for a compulsory vigil which stayed till 5 am of the following morning. I came back that Thursday, prepared for work because I would be having morning classes and will be going my nysc general CDs. I got to the CDs and I was taking a nap stylishly. I came back from work, I needed to go for private classes which I did. Later my phone rang and my mum wanted me to cook. I oblige to cook because, for the past few days, I have been taking tea and bread, and I needed real food. As I began cooking, I knew my body could not start managing it. I put all the ingredients and called my little to monitor the food that I am done with my roles. I had my bath and zoom off to sleep. I woke up at midnight to request food. I ate and returned to bed. Friday, I carried on with my normal routine and I marked the remaining scripts. Saturday morning, I did some house chores and went for a meeting which ended at 2 pm. From there, I went to see my team leader get what I have marked. Trust senior government workers, she came at 5 pm to attend to five examiners who had such much script. She couldn't do much and pleaded we come on Monday. For mine, she asked me to re-score because I was giving them high marks... I am open to sponsorships...

What's wrong? My weekend was damn stressful. I had wanted to join in the coordination of the WAEC marking. One of the examiners that came to invigilate had encouraged me to join in the marking. Though I don't intend to pursue a career in Education since the situation had made joined, I think having experience in marking these scripts would help me one day. Yes, I'm the type of person that doesn't look at them now but let me borrow the financial language "I take calculated risk". So I have been going for the training since Friday and it ended Sunday. I think I'm the youngest there and the head of coordination for my subject gave me the name " used corner". Of course, we are being used by the federal government and we are being paid stipends. Lest I forget, I was going to mark for English language but the coordination centre was too far from my place. And I went to the nearest around me but I will be marking for Literature. We were told to come at 1 pm and I came a bit late though and the leader immediately picked on me and began calling me "used corper". I was exhausted... Registering was rigorous and at last, I was given 244 scripts to mark. I got home tired. I decided to have my bath first and politely chased my little friends that have come to play with me, I don't have time for our play. After taking my bath I ate both my breakfast and lunch, Lol. Hubby called and we began talking. I purposely delayed our conversation because it was easing some stress. Hubby was on night so I needed to dismiss him to rest before work starts. I was refreshed and ready to write. As I opened the first paper, I got a discouraging paper. Nothing was written on it. The candidate just wrote the questions back to the exam board. And I was wondering if the three years spent in college didn't impact anything into his brain. That he can't illustrate a Literature book which he has read for three years in an exam that means his life. And I was left to ask... What's wrong? But what's actually wrong? Is it that the educators don't teach well or what. But I will speak from my experience. When you give them assignments they don't do and they come to give excuses. Make them read these texts on their own so that you would just come to class to analyze and explain, they won't attempt to read. The major issues are from the students. They are too lazy to read and even write. To construct a good sentence is a huge problem. When they come in clusters, they only talk about ball and other frivolities. I weep for this generation of students. Can you believe that most times educators go as far as going to beg them to come to class for teachings? They feel that during these exams there would be a guide. Guess what, during their Literature exam, a strict invigilator who do not accept this malpractice came. And they had no choice than to work on their own. Those that do not read have their booklet to admire and the ones that have read will write proficiently. I used to think WAEC marking is too strict, but with the way we were trained, we were encouraged not to mark the students down rather encourage them. I think I have to stop here because I just stole some minutes of my time to come here to express my displeasure of the Nigerian students towards their exams...

My Voyage Il... I have been extremely busy and stressed out these days. The way I fall asleep easily like logwood is 🤧. Unlike my formal self, I would have to toss around before Mr. Sleep comes. But these days, I just have to lay my head on my pillow, and off I go. Well, that aside... In my last post, I talked about my experience traveling to my hometown. It was a bit scary for me but I found myself asking my mum if we would take the night bus coming back to Lagos. Lol... Our experience at the village was a memorable one, though some unseen insects feasted on my fresh skin and I began seeing some burns on my skin😭. I began scratching, it becomes bumps... I told my mum we have to start coming back immediately. She had wanted to stay for some 4-5 days but I had to discourage her, coupled with the political unrest at the east. And so we decided to come back Sunday since there was a sit at home on Monday. Sunday morning we set out for our journey. We got to the central bus stop in my village and luckily we saw a bus to convey us. We bargained and paid for four seats. But it was remaining a passenger for the bus to get filled. We drove to the next bus stop which is thirty minutes drive to get passengers. Trust Nigerian transporters, we spent an hour before we could leave that bus stop. We got Ihiala Anambra and our car broke down. We all came down to a mechanic village to repair it. As we all came down, we heard some noise from the major road and a puff of smoke rose. We all ran to the spot. Guess what we saw? The mob was burning a thief... They were two that stole a motorcycle, the first died while he was burnt but the second had refused to die. We were told he was using charms. But how we saw him was a near-death state. His skin was peeled off revealing his flesh. At a thought I pitied him but I snapped out of it. I mean why the laziness to work, why the quick rich syndrome. The truth is that there is no easy way to earn a living. Even the robbery they indulge in requires proper planning, else, their life is a big risk. Even here on read. cash, you to do some mental job in other to earn. Finally, the other criminal died and they threw his remains into the bush. We continued our journey. We were at Asaba and my younger sister who was going back to school from the village called to tell where she was currently. Immediately, our bus was flagged down by an army officer. As the driver was talking to him, he kept on looking at me and I was trying to get what my sister was saying. Shockingly, the Army guy said he was going to shoot me that he kept on looking at me, and I kept on making calls. Everyone on the bus began begging him. Pls what was my offence? I need to if it's an offence making calls whilst a soldier should be starting at me? My dearies, in this part of the country where anything goes, I just quietly kept my phone but cursed this nation under my breath. Or was it when we passed one of these men and our driver refused to find him money for 'kola' and he nearly held us hostage. The roadblocks caused some kind of traffic and we were scared of reaching Lagos at midnight because of insecurity. But we got home 9pm, and we thank God for a safe trip back home.

My Voyage... How do you traveling? Some persons write traveling as a hobby and I keep wondering if am from the same world as them. Talking about hobbies, I think sleep is my hobby 🤫 but sleeping in a vehicle in motion is quite not enjoyable. I need to salute those who make traveling a hobby. Pls, how do you do it? All the traveling they talk about is just a few minutes or hours journey. Why do I say this, I can't imagine someone sitting for over six hours and calling that a hobby🤧. I'm from the eastern part of the country and going to my hometown will require you to sit for seven-eight hours that if there was no traffic. Then, if there was traffic, be ready to spend your night on the road. The Niger bridge, sharing a boundary between the Deltans and Anambra is usually our fear to most users of the road. There's usually heavy traffic which will require hours before it clears. So what do we do? We have to leave Lagos on time to beat the traffic. But some of these road transport companies would want to act funny by leaving late, then you will just bear in mind that you may not get to your hometown that day. What about those traveling from Lagos to the south-south. Those they use to sleep on the road most times. Meanwhile, I want to talk about my voyage to my village for my traditional engagement. Now, some persons do theirs in the town where they live but it depends. If you choose to do it in the city then maybe your families all live in cities and you don't have relatives that do not stay close to home, this also the vice-versa for those who do theirs in their hometown. The day was approaching, I knew I would be sitting in a bus for more than eight hours. But something happened... My traditional engagement was supposed to be slated for 16th October, but just some days to the event, we were called by our spiritual leaders that there is going to be a program on that day in the state, so it's either we take it backward that is 15th or shift it to the upper Saturday. Due to the chaos at the east, we needed to just leave it at that 15th so that everyone can also take a chill peel...Lol. Ok, it was Sunday morning we got the news. Mumsy hasn't gone to market yet. Hubby came to the house to do some necessary rites which I will explain to us later. Mumsy said we would have to travel by night because there was no time. We had planned to travel Thursday morning, and start preparing the following day. But with the situation of things and my work which I had already taken two days off, we had to resolve traveling Wednesday night. At first, I objected. I told my mum they should go and I will join them Thursday night when I come. But I had a change of mind. People have been traveling by night and nothing has happened. And when we travel by night, we would get to our hometown the following morning. It's also less expensive. It was the big Luxury bus. We moved at 7 pm and the bus was filled with people while some were hanging. We had a man who came to reveal to us the importance of crude oil and sold some on the bus. To my surprise, they were passengers waiting for night buses at Ijebu Ode and Ondo state. Not long I fell asleep... Though I was waking up at some point in time to look into the dark. We got to Onitsha at 4 am dropped some passengers and continued because its destination is Aba in Abia state. We got to Owerri at some minutes past 7 am. We boarded a cab to our village due to the loads we were carrying. Before 8 am, we got home.

There was a country... Today I cried, the tears couldn't stop flowing, my hands were shaking so also my heart. Was I feeling any form of existence? All of a sudden I became weak, I couldn't comprehend anything. My vision became blur I could no longer see the pictures on the screens. I remember I was always online in order not to miss out on what was happening because a minute away you miss out. But it was 7pm, yeah I began seeing different updates. I couldn't believe it, I was drowning in tears. The tears could no longer flow, my eyes were dried and I began hearing echoes and not human voices. I knew I was losing it, my mental height was being threatened. I had no choice. I turned off my data and passed away. How it all started... This special anti-robbery squad has deviated from what they were employed to do. The corruption that was eating their bosses had begun eating them. They became demons in human form. Guess what they don't have a uniform rather multi. They had been some complaints about this group. Instead of fighting internet fraudsters, they rather use it for their greedy purposes. They use to stay at the entrance of my school then in my university days. If they see you with a laptop, they apprehend you and accuse you of being an internet fraudster. They go as far as apprehending an innocent person and forcing you to give them money else you will be killed. One of my family friends had an encounter with them. As a normal student coming back to school, they rushed at him and forced him into their van. He kept telling them he isn't what they think he is. All these fell on deaf ears. Until he coughed out #5000, he wasn't released. So many absurd stories about these squads. So many lives have been lost because of this inhumane attitude of these men. And then, the youth came together to air their views against this squad. Was that too much to ask? Just for the government to dissolve it. So many youths bought the vision. From the Lekki toll gate, we had other clusters who were protesting against this squad. It was going to a week, our so-called sane government wasn't saying anything. They taught we would get tired until they saw our persistence. A balanced meal was given, so many companies permitted their workers to go for the protest, donations were made through flutter wave(crypto), companies donated their products. All of a sudden, the government began talking about calling off the ASUU strike. They were eager to align with the ASUU chairman to make sure students who are protesting go back to school. NYSC began talking about mobilizing corp members. We don't know they had their hidden agenda. At 7 pm today, they began shooting. They first remove the CCTV and the billboards that have lightning. They said they shot in the air but how come people died. They said once we lift the flag up during protest that no Nigerian army can shoot, but how come our flags were soaked with blood. Everyone ran but DJ switch was able to capture the moment. Thank God she was granted asylum by the Canadian government because she was hunted. AIT was shut down and was later given a fine to pay because it aired it. Other broadcast stations refused to air it out of fear. And the book titled "There was a country' written by Chinua Achebe, has come to play. There was a country when our leaders are there for our interest that is true democracy and not a dictatorship. What again is remained of a country that can't help its citizen, denying her of my right to speech. This isn't DEMOCRACY... This isn't NIGERIA... There was actually a COUNTRY😭.

These Funny humans! Have you sat with these little creatures, you would know why they are called children. They are children because they are feeble, their minds are not yet developed. No wonder they don't know what malice is as to an adult. When they fight amongst themselves, immediately they will reconcile and you see them playing again as friends. I love kids, they are too innocent to be abandoned by me without giving them attention. Raising a child isn't an easy task, it requires skills, these skills I will have to discuss below... I would just say **TOLERANCE and PATIENCE** These are the basic skills for parenting, hello, not just parenting alone but being with kids. Why do I term it skill? I call it a skill because they are extra value needed to achieve a goal. And what is the goal here to raise well-behaved and godly young minds. I will be often be citing examples with my little nephews because they are the closest children and becoming used to their tantrums. One of the days they came visiting because their mum usually close for her place of business late so she comes to pick from my mum's shop. This evening they were about to leave for their home. Trust these kids, they have played and threw their foot wares in different directions. They began searching, all to no avail. So his mum said since they can't find his home footwear, he should rather use his school footwear to walk home. But this my little nephew refused and insisted he wears one leg of his home footwear and the other leg of his school footwear. Wow! That looks so funny. Two footwears on two legs. His mum had wanted to spank him to wearing him the right legs of footwear but we stopped her that children are bound to do some awkward things because they are children. Here, we needed to teach his mum patience to whom they are and she just have to bear the shame of a child following her with two different legs of footwear...Lol. Another incidence was this same nephew. Our mothers can tell how they struggle to prepare them for school, the urging to make them eat, wear their school wears, and prepare their bags and lunch pack. Ok, in the heat of this my sister was trying to urge them to eat fast and wear their clothes. While giving the command to urge them, the youngest son bluntly said to his mum "is that why you are shouting?" Wow, his mum was perplexed, what was she going to do. Scolding him was not the solution but she rather began taking things slow. She just learnt Tolerance. This is my own experience. I do some home teaching after school hours. Teaching my Amanda, she kept telling me she doesn't understand her arithmetic, I used every strategy I could do to make her understand. I later sent her to the board to solve some mental maths. Getting there, I thought she had begun solving because she spent some time on the board. Until I came close, I saw that she was playing with the board maker I gave her, she used it to paint her fingers and rubbed them heavily on her lips. I was so vexed with this little creature of 5yrs. If she leaks it and began developing some stomach issues, I would outrightly be blamed for everything. I didn't spank her but made her know the implications of what she did. I learnt patience... A friend told me she doesn't spank her child, rather she takes away what she likes most to teach her some lessons. For instance, when her daughter offends or disobeys her, she would turn off her favourite cartoon network and send her into her room. This alone is a big punishment for her daughter and she will change. So it's not by spanking. But... My little niece who just clocked 2 had begun learning bad actions maybe from her new school. Each time you scold her, she would fold her hands on her chest and hiss. Wow! When I noticed this is becoming a norm, I would bring down those hands and do a bit of spanking on that lips. These creatures are fun to be with but stressful though. No wonder the Bible says they are blessings to every home. So let's tame them with patience and much tolerance. Ok, I would end here. I had begun writing this before I traveled and I just completed it. I'm open to sponsorship.

Hello friends! I traveled for my traditional engagement and as such network was bad that was why I have not been in this space. But I'm back now...

Who is in the garden? Who remembers this song? Ok let's sing. Me: Who is in the garden? Response: A little fine girl Me: Can I come see her? Response: No, no, no Me: I beg my sister follow me... Lol, we would continue the song and singing round. Anyone we tap would follow to run around. Childhood was fun. We had different games for different occasions. There is one we call 'suwe'. If you can't play this as a young growing girl child you would look like an awkward person. We have the game of the clapping of hands, I repeat childhood was fun! What about our father and mother play, where we cook sand and mashed vegetables in water as soup but it's saddening that some wild children had abused these mummy and daddy play. Recently, I admire the way some little children play in my neighborhood. A mother has outrightly called my attention to her daughter who brought in her playing stuffs both dried corns and sticks of vegetables were all in that bag. Not long, I saw this same girl carried a plastic container filled with used periwinkle and I begin to wonder how she had the time to gather all those things. Inshort they need to get their minds busy which can be done while playing. Playing also help children in their mental health. ******************************* Enough of the distraction and back to our main talk. "Who is the garden a little fine girl" a little fine girl who won't stop worrying about life. She got all the worries of how she would fight back life. How she would interrupt this odd verse of life. You see eh this life isn't balanced, you can't fathom everything about this life we just need to keep pushing. What about your mindset? It's a little garden that ought to be nurtured. Now, what is that thing pre-occupying your garden. When you see a garden most times you fall in love with, why? Because it is always nurtured. - A garden has a gardener -A garden needs to be watered and taken care of. -A garden has so many tools to work with to make it look superb. In a nutshell... This gardener is our saviour Jesus Christ. This world alone is full of troubles, we need an external helper because we can't carry the burden on our own. He alone can help us when life seems so burdensome. We need to water our minds with the scriptures. Even the Bible says "iron sharpeneth iron" when our minds begin to say fearful and negative words to us, we need to rebuke it by the scriptures. As Christians who are still in this boisterous world, we ought to have different tools. Tools like weapons of prayer, singing thanks and praises, and Fasting with fervent prayer. We need these tools to clear our minds against negativity. When the enemy comes to whisper something bad to us, we can start singing songs. I do this often and after I have sung I feel once again. Who is in this garden? A merciful God is in this garden ever ready to see us through this journey of Life...

If I were... This week has been busy for me, going to the market to get one or two things against next week. And today being Thursday was my CDs day and as the first week of the month, it's the day of my monthly biometrics clearance. At the LGA, we were told to come with our U report and make sure we encourage at least five youths to register in this U report. Now this U report is a kind of an NGO that helps people report directly what happens live in their communities. With the help of this, it would be easy to access issues and problems troubling the society. I didn't do mine but trust students, they have a solution to every problem. Thank God I had the solution, then immediately I solved the problem. After I scaled through this, I managed to enter the office for my clearance but was sent back to arrange my file. After arranging and do the necessary signing, I headed for the thumb printing and the system couldn't pick my thumb maybe because I was sweating. Trust these women that are in authority no matter how little. The next thing this woman spewed out was "don't you understand English?" In my mind, I muttered, "I understand more than you...". I stepped outside to avoid further embarrassment. Tik til tik, the time keeps moving. I have to go back to school because I will be having extra classes in school which start at 2 pm and if I miss it, it will tell on my money. Let me say close to an hour, I peeped inside, the corper who was coordinating the line oblige me to come forward once again. By now it was some minutes to 1 pm and I had begun calculating the money I was going to lose meanwhile, I know full well that I won't be available next week Thursday, so I don't have to lose this. I began whispering to God to help me because I can't afford to lose to Thursdays. Now I went for the second trial, I did the biometrics the first was saying the same formal issue, but at the third attempt, my name popped out. I was grateful and felt delighted leaving there for school. On my way back, something happened. I forgot to mention that something happened. As I was going I saw some group of people surrounding sac nylon and beeping into it. I thought my mind was deceiving with what it was. But while returning I peeped farther, and I saw a chubby boy who closed his eyes to his mother earth begging her to come to his aid. I immediately came to school, I began posting to see if someone can kindly link me up to NGO that deals with something of this magnitude. And I was thinking why a human being drop her child by the roadside, even if you don't plan to have a child. There are options I mean, first is that you can find a man and his wife who needs a child and sell the baby to them. Or rather, she can take the baby to the mother's babies and leave the child. And I continued to wonder if I were God, I visit those women who have been married without an issue. If I were God those who flirt around for pleasure should have a disease that is u curable. If I were God, only if I were God, there would be nothing like barrenness, every home must have a child, and those who have destroyed their wombs due to pre-marital pleasure should forget about having a child when they get married until they sincerely ask for forgiveness...

The day was long... Monday was gradually creeping away, well it went smoothly, my Monday wasn't stressful, but there was something that happened in the evening. I switched off my phone twice yet my messages were not entering. I began wondering if the subscription I did few days have finished. I was already becoming angry with the network producers. But I was surprised that messages were entering through my telegram channel and I almost concluded that telegram does not use subscription, how is that possible 😂😂😂? Not long I understood that it was a general issue that some social media sites were down. On Tuesday, I woke up a bit late and got ready for work. Then I remembered that it was Teacher's Day. Government-owned schools declared that day a public holiday to celebrate their teachers. But for us in the private sector, we would be celebrating ourselves by next week Tuesday. The association of Private Schools had earlier brought a cloth we would buy to attend the party they would be organising. I used to have a busy schedule on Tuesdays, I outrightly have classes from the first period to the last. Tuesdays are usually not funny for me. I couldn't finish all my periods for the day because my cousin and I will be going shopping for an event. It wasn't funny, things were expensive, I needed to cut down my budget. Not long while still in the market, we saw a mob beating a man naked. He stole. Well, I'm not surprised, this is a normal thing you see in such a big market like that. Some people pitied him while others didn't. After buying the necessary things, we set for home thank God there was no traffic. I got home on time and began to prepare to go to church. My day ended with a funny story. A friend who we all graduated together chatted with me to tell me the latest trend in the school we graduated from. One of our lecturers in the department raped a girl in his office. Well, I told this my friend that I am not surprised that this same man would blatantly come to class that if he makes passes at you, you ought to see it as a privilege. I mean I know of some students who probated, spilled, and had carryovers in their courses because they have refused to sleep with a particular lecturer. The same man who has been accused of rape had been accused of 'sex for grade', students were made to write a petition which they did but the department threatened to seize all the student's results. That department is a scum. Some lecturers go as far as telling students to book a hotel for both of them. Whenever you tell someone that you studying my course you would immediately see care. They would ask why you have to study this nice course in this school. We blame the youths for the fall in Education but what about male lecturers, who want to frustrate all the female students in the department. On Wednesday, the truth is being investigated by the Student Union but now we're told that the final year students who were raped have refused to pick her calls. I hope nothing happens to her... My Wednesday wasn't that stressful but annoying. How do you feel waiting for someone, you keep calling the person and he or she keeps saying "you will see me now" but you will keep waiting and won't see the person. I left school at 9 am and had plans to return at noon but my plans were dashed out. I was vexed in my mind but what will I do, she was only doing me a favour...

How I will spend my $590.000... Happy new month all. Yeah, this is just the fourth day of the month that means the month is still very young. I want to first thank God for the gift of life. Sincerely speaking, September didn't go the way I wanted. My targets were knocked down by busy schedules and ill health. First I was busy with school work, trying to merge keeping up as a core subject teacher and a Lagos Corper with house chores. Oh my God, I guess it was all these that caused the sickness. My eye was turning me, severe headache and weakness. I took drugs but it wasn't curing and have to go for series of treatments. By taking some samples of my blood, I realised that my blood was low. I just want to thank God that I'm awake this morning, alive and alert, and enthusiastic about Life. Though September didn't go the way I expected, I thank God that I am healthy, health they say is wealth. So I have decided not to say much about this new month. I want to take a day at a time though having my plans in my heart. I pray and I believe to achieve much this month. Ok, back to our topic. This topic had been trending for a while and I thought to join the trend. I believe if you are expecting something big you ought to prepare for it so that you can efficiently use it and not abuse it. So have decided to have faith and make plans for the money before it arrives, Lol... **MY WEDDING** Yeah, as the day approaches our target of having this wedding done this year is becoming so real but we have to do all these with finance. We all know the hike of foodstuff down here in Nigeria and you can imagine making a budget to feed over three hundred people. Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the country where I come from, we must do the traditional marriage before the church wedding and that also involves money. Well, if I should have this money $590, I will take some chunk of it to support hubby for the wedding, or I would rather tell him to save the money and sponsor the wedding and make it as elaborate as I wanted. I would organise my bridal shower and that of boo's bachelor's eve. **HONEYMOON** With the hike of things, I deliberately told boo not to bother traveling for our honeymoon, rather we may just visit any nice spa or eatery around to spend some time. But with this money, I would take us around the nice places in the country, places like Obudu cattle ranch, ogbudu spine at Enugu, waterfall at Lekki, and some other nice places. I would also love to order the biggest size of pizza and cold stone ice cream while lodging in one of the exquisite hotels. Sincerely speaking I had only tasted these once and I want to do it again but in a bigger way. **HIS DREAMS** Boo has an investment in Lagos and it's his dream to starting working on it immediately we are married, where we will be living would not give enough space for our kids to be free to play around. So it's his next dream. I will support him so that he could put up his dream edifice and a journey of years will be achieved within months. **NGO** I run an NGO (GiveThemLife), against girl child abuse but will be looking at child abuse in the nearest future. With this money, I would love to help some of these girls who have been abused due to the circumstances surrounding them. Some of these girls are being abused by their uncles who they live with and they can barely do anything about it because they are responsible for their feeding, clothing, and Education. I would make sure those abusers face the consequences and give these girls a good Life and Education to some reasonable length where they can now fend for themselves. What about those girls who have been put in the family way as a consequence of being raped. And some of them have become carriers of deadly diseases as a result of the wicked act of their abusers. I would love to have a home to habit such teenage girls who are going through these. Will the help of the money, I would be able to achieve this. Thanks for reading friends...

About Today... Today is the last day of the month. Not just the last day of the month but the month that will be ushering the celebration of the independence day. At such an ending of the month, there used to be a sober reflection of what I have achieved during the week. Meanwhile, we use to observe a prayer and fasting programme usually on the first three days of the month. So, I know I already would engage in some spiritual exercise. But this last day of the month was going to be a special one because we are celebrating our independence. I was told to organize all activities. I was just recovering but I decided to try the children and see their abilities. First, I had my opening prayer which was followed by the National Anthem by a student. The first was a poem written a student. Here he talked about Nigeria at a glimpse. Stating who we were before the colonial masters came. The next was my good debaters. So sorry, I forgot the theme of our day. Its theme is "Nigeria of my Dream". While the supporters are saying " Nigeria today has been what we dream about" and the opposers are saying "Nigeria isn't our Dream". The supporters based their points that Nigeria had moved from what used to be as being naive and crude to being technology inclined. He took us through the journey of 1960, how they fought the gain the independence we celebrate today. Nigeria is seemly becoming our dream. The opposers were there to kick against it. They said what has happened to our natural resources. What about our hospitals, imagine a country where it's a doctor has been on strike for quite some weeks now. How is it that whenever the politicians fall sick the next thing is to travel outside the country for treatment? What does it mean? That our government does not trust our medical personnel and hospitals. They concluded by stating they want a country void of corruption, a country where the society is void of rapists, protecting every child from abuse. A country where our mothers would boldly ask us after every meal if we are bellyful and will immediately find a solution if we answer in the negative. What again do we want than a society where every graduate can access any job opportunity of his or her choice. We could go on with what we want of our dream Nigeria, but I pray these dreams will one day become a reality. We continued the event with the cultural display of our three major ethnic groups that is the Yorubas, Igbos, and Hausas. We further delve into a melodrama, alongside Timi Dakolo's song titled " One Nigeria". The students were able to illustrate these by portraying the system of bondage we were during the colonial period. And how we were able to fight to gain our independence. We finally called it a day by dance! dance! dance... Pls I'm open for sponsorship.

Thank you @Happyboy for renewing your sponsorship. May God bless you abundantly.

It's their pain... Most times when people go through hard times we pity them but if you hear the story behind their suffering, you would just hiss. What am I saying? I'm not saying you shouldn't pity people, but know the depth of that thing before you usher your pity to them. Also, this goes in hand with not just jumping into conclusion, know the depth of something before you criticise. Some persons will intentionally incur problems for themselves and when something bad happens they look for who to blame. Again, before you jump into action, THINK. Even if you have better knowledge about something, I advise you still have a rethink. I want to talk about an action of a man that led to his doom due to his selfish pride and arrogance. He had a beautiful lady as a girlfriend. She was willing to spoil him with affection and care. At times, she would take themselves out, and all bills will be on her. She is a sophisticated lady. But guess what, the uncle said he wasn't going to wife her, that he knows what he wants in a woman. His friends talked to him about his irrational decision and this was his response "I want a woman who when I tell her something, she does it quickly without questioning me, a woman who is still in her raw state". Wow, his friend tried talking sense into him all to no avail. He went as far as telling his mum that stays in the village to help him get a wife who is humble, respectful, and in her raw state. His mother swag into action. Trust mothers now, she was able to get a village gullible village girl. He married her immediately, brought her to his mansion and our wife started her drama. She has refused to take a shower after the journey, and that she only takes her bath once in the village. Uncle was shocked, he just dragged into the bathroom and force her to take shower. Most times, she wouldn't even take her bath for days if the man isn't around to monitor her. Brushing her teeth is far from it. In short, personal hygiene was far from her. Next, he asked her what her hobby was, aunty said FOOD 😅... Trust this our wife that isn't exposed, she goes around the house wearing a wrapper around her chest, she isn't exposed to the skimpy things one wears at home to look attractive. One day, she came to his office tying a wrapper and a top. She said she doesn't know how to use the landline in the house. Uncle felt embarrassed in the presence of his workers, not that she doesn't have nice attire but she is too naive to put them on because she wasn't brought up that way. It was beginning to be dawn on uncle that he had made a wrong choice. Let me end here, but this is the fate of most men in this world today. Some of them don't go to the village to get a wife but hide in the disguise of I want a cool lady when in the actual sense they want someone who would not stand up against their decisions. Due to their pride and ego, they the extremely quiet ladies who can be easily swayed with their sweet mouths. One who will worship them and can't question them. When they see the sophisticated ladies they hide in the disguise that these ones will spend their money on fashion but in the real sense, they are stingy. Let me finish my, he packaged his wife back to his mum and attempt to go to his former girlfriend. But his former girlfriend is occupied already. Guess who? His friend... Thanks for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed it and learnt from it.

The 24hours of my Friday. I slept at 3 am on Friday because I needed to attend to some issues. Looking at the time I went to bed I knew I was going to go to work late. I woke up at 7 am, prepared for work, and got to work late. At the assembly, I needed to remind the children of our big day on the 1st of October which is our independence. While I was away from school to the clinic, I learnt the directress of the school dropped a message that I should be in charge of all the activities happening that day. We heard the debate club, the drama unit, the dancers for three major ethnic groups, poems, and rappers. The children indicated their interest while I gave the theme "Nigeria of my Dream" and appointed each team head. I finally told them they should all come up with something by Monday because we would start rehearsals that day. I also told the drama team that we would be using Timi Dakolo's song "One Nigeria" for a melodrama. After that, classes began. During my second class for the day, I got pissed off with my students. I gave them an assignment on Literature but just four out of twelve did the assignment. I didn't tell them anything, after my class, I took them all downstairs to give them some punishment. And a girl had refused to do the punishment, instead, she ran out of the school and took a motorcycle home. I reported the issue to the heads of the school and a letter has been drafted to give her two weeks suspension from school. Furthering ahead, I went to pick my little nephews and niece from school, drop them at mom's shop and went to the clinic where I am receiving treatment. When I got there, I lay down on the bed and there I knew how tired I was. I immediately began taking my "drip treatment" and I slept off. I opened my eyes only to see that I have finished with the drip treatment, the nurse had quietly taken the needle from my hand and covered it with a bandage, and allowed me to sleep. I woke up hungry. Later in the evening, I went to check up on my secondary school Alumni forum and there was a challenge going on. Here it's like a tongue twister which you will say and record. Meanwhile, my WhatsApp name is wealth. Immediately I did my recording of tongue twisters some ancestors(older alumni) began to react, they were shocked that the wealth that has been talking to them is a lady thinking it's their fellow guy. This guy all of a sudden said he has a gift for me, trust me I ran into his dm to claim my gift. My day ended happily too. Thanks for reading, Like, upvote and comment.

F.e.a.r I'm sorry, I have not been active here. I have been seriously ill for a weak. I have been on treatment for a week and there have been improvements. Let me not bore you all with my health. I'm here to tell you about my fears. What is fear? ***F- Fake*** **E-Elements** **A-Appearing** **R-Real** That is it. It's my mind telling me I can't do it. This fear has denied me of so many things while growing up. People had looked down on me because I was scared to express myself. At times, before I would open my mouth to talk, I would have to paraphrase those words I'm about to blurt out in my head again because I was so scared of committing grammatical blunders. When I was in my teens, I used to be in the church youth choir. Luckily for me I was in the same parish. So one day I was told to sing a song in one of our rehearsals, I stood up and you need to see the way I was shaking like a leaf everyone busted out laughing. Since I had been looked down on as one who can't sing. I can still remember this when I was very much younger. I used to be an outspoken person but when it comes to doing a public thing, I will become numb. So on that very day, I was selected to make a speech. Guess what, I went on stage and began looking at the back. The photographer came up to caution me but in my mind, I said "this man does not know what is going on. Immediately, I made my incomplete speech and rushed back to my seat. Since then, no one deared giving me any speech. Another time, it was during a drama rehearsal in school in my 100level days. I was given a role to act, I rehearsed my lines and I knew I was scared. I went on stage to act my part, come and see the rubbish I was saying. It was as if they came was away what I have rehearsed. Everyone began laughing again, I mustered courage and went back to my seat. After these incidents, I have vowed not to do anything public again. But I don't know how the jinx got broken. In my final year, I took two lead roles to act in our church drama. I delivered my lines on the d-day, come and see the humor and how people laugh at my actions. Or was it singing, I now sing with much confidence and pride. I sometimes take the lead songs. How it all changed I can't tell, I just found confidence in christ. See eh, it was as bad as I know an answer to a question may be in a conference but I won't stand to talk, I was scared that people will laugh at me. Well, let me tell you, I saw this as a burden because it won't help me. So I took it to the Lord in prayer and consciously begin to drop that fear and now I can face anyone and you would wonder who is giving me such guts. Thanks for reading friends. Like, upvote and comment.

Butterflies in my belly right now...thank you @farmgirl for the sponsorship...May God crown all your efforts with success. Amen!

My 5 F's Now, this is the real distraction. It's not easy trying to patch things up as school had just resumed. Lest I forgot, I broke down on Wednesday and I have been seriously strong with typhoid and malaria. But thanks to God, I'm getting better. Well, so many persons have been writing about their F's, and here is mine. **FAMILY** My family is my everything. We are five children and just my mum. My Dad died in 2004 leaving four girls and a boy behind. My mum had been the one taking care of the responsibility. Inshort I can't remember his face or know how he looks like because he died when I was very little. Since then it's my mum we all knew, my mum was our mother and father figure, guardian, prayer warrior, gist partner, and a lot more. Anything that happened during the day and we were not around, my mum would give us the full gist whenever we come home even while I was in school, she calls to gist me, Lol...and we also we gist her about everything but for one thing. We don't talk to her about our 'toasters', she used to be very mean if she sees any opposite gender around us. We already know who my mother is so we avoid that area. **FRIENDS** I'm a very social person. I love interacting with people because I know I can easily rise to the top when I interact with people. This makes me have friends in every gathering I go to. I love interacting with people that is why I have a lot of friends. Some people say the word 'friend' is a big name to call anyone who isn't their inner circle. But for me, I call everyone who I have interacted with and shared knowledge with friends before will I call them enemies? But wait, when I say I have a lot of friends doesn't mean I expose myself to them, no, I let them know the part they need to know about me then the rest will be for me. **FITNESS** I'm not medically fit right now. I have taken typhoid and malaria dosage yet it's still not helping issues. If it persists I will have to go to the hospital. I don't usually fall sick like this in short I can't even remember the last time I took a pain reliever drug for either headaches or anything. I guess this one is prompted by stress, coming from the nysc orientation camp into my summer classes with the kids I teach, and immediately, school resumes. I pray God gives me divine health and healing in Jesus name. **FINANCIAL** I thank God for whom I am. I'm not a squanderer, I calculate my money before making any massive spending. I believe in saving to invest, thank God this particular one is becoming a reality. It wasn't easy saving to invest because you have to deny yourself so many pleasures. God has been helping me financially, even when I tried to help mumsy pay my younger sister's school fee before the university deadline of payment, God provided even though I was broke. I pay my bills and help my family in my little way is a big thing to say "Thank you, Lord". **FUN** Lastly, I love seeing movies it's my own way of catching fun. My phone is filled with movies and anytime I'm bored, I do a recap of those movies. Also eating, is my own way of having fun. When I prepare what my body wants, I become happy.

How do you do it? I used to wonder how people will sit to write for hours without getting tired. During my University days, some people said they read for 8hours at a stretch while I will just read for four hours I will feel so drained as if the book had taken the whole of me. Or is it writing? If I should sit to write something will come up and I want to give it a name because I have been greatly disturbed. But now I think I have found a name to it. Its name is Mr. Distraction. He's a cruel being that comes to deceive you. Why do I call it cruel? I have been in a situation where I am supposed to do something but I got distracted and I even enjoyed the distraction. Now as I'm done with distraction, I couldn't continue with what I was doing, I become so angry with myself. In as much as I called it cruel, it also can be a lifesaver. Have been in a situation where I went blank on what to write but I got distracted a little and I had an inspiration. So permit me to use this oxymoron that Mr. Distraction is a cruel lifesaving being. Distractions can come in various ways either negatively or positively. Ok, here are my distractions... **Sickness** Like I said earlier, some of these distractions are good and also bad. Some also when they come may have a role to play. I began having signs of sickness on Monday. I did my normal routine, going to work and doing some home chores. I thought to write on read.cash by Tuesday because I was already stressed out. Tuesday came, it gave me some signs but I managed to go to church. As I finished everything, I have to do that night and retired to bed I became extremely tired and I decided to rest a little. Only for me to wake up in the middle of the night with so much pain and a rise in body temperature. Meanwhile, on Wednesday I have been thinking of how to meet up with my marriage class. I was tired of going through the process of taking permission. And then this sickness came in the early hours of Wednesday. Well, I just called I won't be coming to work that I'm down with Malaria and Typhoid. Immediately, I went to the pharmacist shop, got some drugs, and used them. Within an hour I became better. I joyfully threw the blanket I was using to shield myself because I was feeling cold, took my bath, and began heading for my marriage class. It was a good distraction for me because I don't have to go through the rigorous process of taking permission and hinder unnecessary attention from my colleagues to know where I am always going every Wednesday. But it was a bad distraction because for some days, due to signs of the sickness, I have not been able to write on read.cash. **Social Media** Earlier this year, I have had so much distraction from my social media beeps. Once I'm on read.cash and I see a WhatsApp message, I would be tempted to check the message and that is how I will begin to chat and distracted. **Sleep** Someone had said that this song "I can't kill myself" by a musician has made so many youths lazy. Atimes I will be reading or writing then sleep will come knocking. If I try to resist and can't resist anymore, I will just say in my mind "I can't kill myself ooo" 😝 zoom off, I have begun sleeping already. Distractions are everywhere but your reaction towards them matters a lot. Even right I feel like going to bed to rest because I just home from work but I refused to be distracted. This is my write-up on distraction, a challenge by @JonicaBradley. Thank you for reading my little scribbles.

Preparing to resume work! Monday was going to be work, whoops I'm a bit tired to resume. I had submitted a request letter during the orientation camp and luckily it was honored. I was posted to my former place of which is a school. Coming out from camp, I had to go to the school for an acceptance letter which was given to me. I was to resume work on the 13th of September since that is when schools will be resuming for a new session. Before this week of resumption, we have been having training with our coach who stays outside the country. We were taught on being reflective Educators. Meanwhile, we were told to scribble what we would want to do with the kids this term taking it monthly. For me, September will be for writing because I take the Language class. Our topic will be "The Moral Decadence of BBN in the Life of Students". I would make sure they all write, go through their writings and pick the best three who will read it after the morning assembly, paying close attention to the right diction and pronunciation. In October, there would be a project to be carried out by all students in their class, stating the rules of using the auxiliary verbs. While they write, it will be pasted around the school for everyone to see. This will help them know the rules guiding these verbs. In November, there would be a film show of the movie titled 'NIMBE'. It's a movie centered on a young male student who was neglected at home and having it affecting his academic performance. After this movie, there would be writing about " The role of Parent, Teacher, and Society, in the academic performance of Students". It won't be an easy task but God is going to help me. Forging ahead, I had prepared intellectually but I have to prepare physically. I knew I was going to have a rough Sunday because I couldn't make my hair the other day. I told you I was strong due to the stress my little nephews put me through on Saturday. So I managed to get to church, then I was beginning to gather little strength. Before the end of the service, I was strong. After church, the choir team was asked to wait for a rehearsal. I was looking for a little way to escape but couldn't find. I had to stay back but I was thinking about my hair which I have not made and also my evening meeting with someone. Immediately after we finished the choir rehearsal, I took a motorbike for the sake of time and went down to my saloon. Unfortunately, people were extremely much and I have to use another saloon near us but I wasn't satisfied with their service. After making my hair, I rushed down home to take off my church dress and quickly dash off for my meeting. Luckily, for me, I had bought some snacks to step down a little. They've not been power supply in my vicinity, so I have nothing to iron my gown but thank God it wasn't squeezed. And the Monday rain welcomed us into a new session. Thanks for reading...

Nanny for Hire!!! How do you do it? I so much love kids, in short, sometimes I go the extra mile to get them some lovely wears when I have the money. But I have to realize that these children also do love. No none of the children I play with do come back for another playtime. When I went for my three weeks orientation camp, one of the children in my neighborhood kept disturbing her mum that she hasn't seen me for some days now. And when I arrived, they wouldn't want to let go of me, they were with me till evening. When they come to my house, they even go as far as helping me to cook, they will help with the salt, pepper, mortar, mention anything... I even became their gist partners. I asked this, my baby of 5yrs to assist me in losing my hair, she willingly did and we began doing the work. Halfway into the hair, she began I gist. "Aunty, do you know Landlord said he will give mummy Joy a quit notice" I opened my mouth and asked 'why?' She continued, "because she use to disturb the entire neighbours and doesn't pay her bills", in my mind I said 'okay. These children are lovely to be with and fun to be with especially the smart and outspoken ones. But I never realize that taming and grooming them isn't beans oo😩😩... My elder has three kids, of which the first is 6yrs a boy, 4yrs a boy too and 2yrs old a girl. I used to be with the children like say for some few hours and they are wonderful kids in terms of trouble. If I should mistakenly drop my phone to attend to some things before I return, I would see a hundred photos they might have taken and I will sit to intentionally delete those pictures. Saturday wasn't funny. Their parents weren't around, usually, they come to stay with us if this happens. Now grandma which is my mum was going to a wedding, hell no, I couldn't dodge it because there was no one at home. My ordeal started immediately I got to the shop the first son said he wanted to poo and I gave him potty to use. Immediately the girl said she too want pee and I attended to her. They began playing and I began shouting for them to be cautious of their play so as not to injure themselves. One carried a long wood and touching on electric, I screamed. Thank God I saw him on time, immediately I spanked him and collected the wood from him. They played all manner of rough play and when they offend me I had to tell them not to come to my house again and the second son said "it's not my house, it's grandma's house and Mummy will still bring us here..." I became speechless. The girl wasn't left out of her trouble, every minute pee and when she sits on the potty she wouldn't want to get up as if it has now turned her chair. I tried to make them sleep but the sleep wasn't deep, they woke up within an hour. At noon, they told me they wanted to eat and I told them when it's 3 pm they will have their lunch. And they began checking the time for me. Immediately it was 3 pm they bounced on me for their lunch. In all, everyone looking after a child needs some medal award. A mother who has three boys was telling me that she use to give her sons some sleeping drugs so that "they won't kill her" that was her words. These women who work as caregivers, pls they should be given a fat pay, it's not easy tanning these little humans. I did the job of a nanny for just a day and I developed an ache on my head to the extent when I woke up Sunday morning to prepare for church, my eyes began to turn me I needed to hold something so I don't fall. I had body weakness and a serious headache. Pls let's give a shout out to our mothers who also condoled our dramas while we were little and to everyone having these little feet in their care...I say God bless you all as you nurture these souls. Amen...

Mother is Supreme! Well, I don't know how you call it in your native languages but in my language, we call it 'nneka' which means mother is supreme. I'm not trying to be biased here but we need to give our mothers some accolades. Though fathers have done so well providing for us, risking his life to put food on the table, protecting the family from prey. Our fathers need some accolades too. Meanwhile, I have to deduce that the society atimes are against the female gender. Despite they have been some awareness against the subjugation of the female gender but I think there are still some strands against the female gender. Why will a woman who has lost her husband and mourned him find it difficult to re-marry? If she re-marries, gossips will begin to spread that she is a whore and can't even wait a bit longer after the demise of her husband. But for the male folks who just lost his wife, can easily re-marry within the space of a year of the demise of his wife and this same society we praise him. We have so many vices in society against women but I wouldn't want to dive into that. But I would love to talk about a story concerning the above talk. My mum is one. She has lost her husband since 2004 till now she didn't re-marry. But I will talk about my mum in the nearest future. A woman who has been an old customer of my mum, came narrating her story. Mrs. Akpan(not her real name) had married at an early age, this was the period where early marriage was in vogue. Not long after she married, she lost her husband to the cold hands of death. She was still young with two lovely girls. Trust our African society, she has become a second-hand material. The suitors showing interest in her are either giving her the conditions of dropping her two daughters elsewhere and not carrying them along with her. While some that accepted her and her kids are the lazy ones who don't have anything to do to make a living. Seeing what was happening, she gave up on re-marrying and sacrificed whatever pleasure to train and see her daughters grow with good morals. She isn't learned but she worked hard to see her children through school. Luckily the first daughter got a visa to travel outside the country after her high school Education while the second has just finished her university Education, currently serving, and is about to be married to a Marine Engineer. What am I saying, good mothers, are willing to sacrifice everything for their kids? Seeing that the female gender is prey in society, she admitted to training her kids single-handedly. What if she married one of the men who want her to leave her children, who would be an eye on those children knowing what it takes to nurture a girl child in this generation. Mrs. Akpan is the replica of my mum, don't worry I'm going to give us the gist for another day. **MOTHERS ARE THE BEST**... I'm opened for sponsorship

This thing called Trust... Let me define TRUST. I want to simply define it as believing in something or someone. When you believe in something it's called faith but when you believe in someone it's called trust. Well trust has been refuted it's rightful place in our human society, rather we see betrayal. **WHO ARE THE PEOPLE THAT NEEDS THIS TRUST** Couples need this trust. What do I mean? The wife needs to trust her husband that he wouldn't cheat and that he loves her sincerely. She needs to believe at all times what he tells her even if at some point in time it may not be true but for the sake of peace. So also the husband. He needs to trust her that she can't turn her back on him despite any situation he may find himself in. What happens if they don't trust? It's simple, there won't be peace in the home. You can imagine a case that the woman knows her husband to be a flirt before they got married but immediately they came together as husband and wife he had vowed not to have an affair outside their marriage. Maybe, he begins to come back home from work late on few occasions. He comes home to tell her that it is either he worked late or traffic held him. If she doesn't trust him, she may go as far as asking his colleagues at work when he leaves work to start monitoring him. When she begins this, she unknowingly begins to worry and giving room anxiety. Her mind will shift from taking care of her home to "this man is cheating on me". That is why most women who do this naturally become depressed. What do you do? Take it to the Lord in prayer, and have an open mind towards your husband. Well, he may be telling you lies which you know but have this at the back of your mind "you will not kill yourself because of a man". The next people that need this trust are those who have friends and best friends. Well, they will betray you but you have to learn from it and be courageous to shave it away. I had a best friend down here at home. Each time I was going to come for holiday from school she was the person I tell first. We talk, gist and eat together. But we had a little misunderstanding, boom aunty had begun posting on her status and kept calling me names. The only thing remaining for her to call my name that I was the one who offended her. Two months later she came crying back to me, I couldn't just forgive her because the hurt was still there. I had to forgive her and now we are both cool but I learned my lesson and doing things with much caution. Inshort, we had agreed on doing chief bridesmaid for anyone who marries first, but for me, I am not using her. I didn't tell but she already knew. Another group is parents. I can remember vividly when I was young, those times we would play amongst ourselves as toddlers then someone begins to find his thing or her thing. When he or she can't find it, they go straight to report to their parents. And their parents will come to meet my mum. And you can imagine me crying in the presence of my mum and the parent involve that I didn't take their thing, why because my mum does not trust me. Trust doesn't mean you should throw away your thinking faculty neither does it mean you shouldn't have patience with people. Trusting isn't easy, but when you trust I tell you, you would have peace of mind and depression will be far from you. My muse is from @Vikky903 Thanks for reading friends...

The Wonderland called Dream. It was in the early hours of the morning when my younger brother's phone. At first, he didn't pick and was even reluctant to pick. But it was cousin that was calling, we were all shocked why he was calling at 4am. We forced him to pick the call, not long he entered the bedroom while talking to my cousin. After making the call, he began sweating profusely and refused to come out. After an hour my cousin called again and his response was "not yet, I am waiting for the day to break". We slept off to wake up at the dawn of the day. And began questioning him. He reluctantly told us that she was gone. What? Everyone began to cry😭, neighbours came in to hold mumsy. It was a big blow that she has left us so suddenly without a goodbye. ******************************* And I said to myself but she is dead why is she still coming to the physical. I saw her among the choristers, trying to sing and teach some particular songs. I refused to go near her and she didn't bother coming to but I watched her on close range. But no one seems to question her coming to rehearsal since she has left the land of the living. Not long, I saw her carrying a child not more than a year old. And was dedicating the child to the pulpit. And a voice said to me that she was coming back in form of that child which means a kind reincarnation. And I woke up... This is in respect to the story about dream @JonicaBradley request we write and tag her along. Dreams are like a wonderland, where one's spirit wanders away leaving its body to grease the bed. Dreams make us visit the unimaginable, where we would never think of going. Dreams sometimes also give us clues of what will happen shortly, they serve as a warning for some. For some, dreams are confirmation of that little prayer you've been whispering into the ears of God. Dreams are also a place of battle. I remember when I was in my middle teens. Whenever I dream and I'm in a bad situation, I would want to mention the name 'Jesus' but will be restricted and lost my voice. Not longer, I decided to follow Christ and become serious with God, I began praying in my dreams. So it's a place to fighting and winning. Dreams are places of transition. No wonder you hear someone say "He died while sleeping..." Dreams are fantasies that bring what we've created in our mind during the day to becoming an acted script in our subconsciousness .

Raining Weekend!!! Some said maybe it's the seven days of rain that ought to have fallen in July that is dropping now. Some also said that it's as if Noah has built another ark and taken his whole household into the ark and now Christ is punishing the earth with such great rain. And another said they have been holding the rain all these while but now, it has decided to fall. I began resting for the weekend on Friday because of the rain. In the early hours of Friday morning, the rain wasn't that severe but had begun to show its vulnerability. I want to go for my monthly biometric NYSC clearance and that on time because I want to be among the early corners who would be lucky enough to pick a free acquisition form. Earlier on our LI had announced that they were forms in the secretariat for those who are interested in these four skills which will be done for free, they are: -Bead making -Catering -Soap Making -Photography And I went for photography because I would love to go into social media marketing. Well, that's by the way. I got to the Local Government at fifteen minutes past 8 am, I was the first corner by the way. By this time the rain had begun to pour. I waited for our LI and I started my clearance and pick the form I wanted to fill. I was done at immediately 9am but by this time the rain had become severe. While waiting for the rain to stop, a corper approached me and asked, "pls do you have movies?" I smiled in the affirmative. And I gave my phone to collect the movies. Now the rain has reduced but I have to wait for my phone. While waiting, my bunky in the nysc camp in, and we talked and chatted for a while before she went in for her clearance. Not long bunky came out and I was yet to get my phone. By the time I got my phone, it was raining cat and dog. I needed to enter the rain, got a motorbike, and headed to my house. This rain stopped at exactly 5pm, well I enjoyed my sleep. Whoever that brought the notion of sleeping when there is a downpour, needs accolades. Saturday was the same but I guess the rain wanted to have fun with us because it will drizzle a little and will stop. Those who displayed their wares to sell were not finding it funny. I was able to help my mum at the shop and when it was 8pm when we are about to close for the day, these hoodlums came around to steal from people who are just returning from work or the market. Seeing this I nearly peed on my body. We don't have power supply for some days now, and I decided to charge my laptop and phone in the shop. Now I was charging all these in the shop, what do I do. I immediately removed my phone and hid it in my body and I ran out of the shop. I turned around I could not see my younger sis, I began calling her name. My lovely sister was trying to fix my laptop in my school bag before running out. Not long I saw the bag running to meet me. This was how my ordeal went in just this last weekend. It was something I don't wish to repeat itself again. Please, I am open to sponsors.

My Goals for the month of September. I had read @Princessbusayo article on her goals for September, I decided to write mine since the month just took in. I got challenged and I had promised to write about my goals for the year. Goals are written down plans you set for yourself at a particular point in time. If these goals aren't written else if not written, they become mere plans. Well writing goals have been of immense help to me, most times I see myself going to what I have penned to check if I was still on track. As I tried writing, my phone switched off. We've not had power supply for three days now and nothing has been done about it. I began scouting for how to get my phone charged, I couldn't find. Thank God I charged during the Sunday service. So, here are my goals for September. I pray God helps me achieve these goals. **My Courtship** I intend to finish up my courtship exercise this month, which has lasted for two months now. After my courtship, I will begin to plan for my traditional marriage... I pray I don't break down😩. **Writing on read. cash** I would love to be consistent with my articles this month. I got challenged by some people here, how they were able to write and earn that much. Writing has been a thing I have left for a while but I intend to dust my pen and become consistent with it. I pray the power supply won't fail me this time again. **Watching KOB2** I had watched the first part of this movie and it was dope. Since the kob2(king of boys) came out, I had not had peace of mind, the way they talk about on WhatsApp status and the general conversation would make one think you are not even in this part of the world. But I had finally downloaded this movie and one of these days, I would relax to watch this movie. Meanwhile, I have forgotten the actions in KOB1, pls what do I do 🤷‍♀️? **Resuming work**. Luckily for me, I was posted for my primary place of assignment in my place of work that is a secondary school where I teach the English Language. I will be happy to see them in a week. It will be another time of writing of lesson plan, a time of trying to instill discipline on young minds and get these minds ready for the terms activities. **Eating good food** As much as I am trying to save up for my traditional marriage, I won't overlook the idea of feeding well, else I break down. I would do my best to take enough fruits and vegetables. These are my goals for this month, I pray we have a steady power supply to carry out these plans. Thank you all...