Greeting Card for Sale: African Girls by Tunde Omolodun at the halftribe store

It had been one of those dreadful weeks that just seemed to drag on and on, you know the ones where you wake up on a Thursday and instead of feeling upbeat about the fast approaching weekend, you hurl yourself out of bed and pray to God you survive one more day like this. Surprisingly, I made it through Friday.

We have a very pro family culture at the office so it’s always easy to be invited to a party or find someone on the spur of the moment deciding to host the rest of us without any plans. On this particular day, there was so much more excitement among the ladies; I left my tiny 2x2 office to listen to what the drama was about. When I saw one hockey mom talking animatedly, I knew it had to be something good. My first instinct was some ‘fantastic’ sale going on somewhere, ‘who no like cheap atikul’, but to my disappointment, it was only a new lingerie store that had recently opened and the girls were all planning to check it out after work in the hope of adding some spice to their much anticipated weekend. It’s funny but a lot of African women I know are not quite as open about their plans for the weekend involving anything remotely romantic. Instead they gripe about the chores they have to do, find some fun for the kids, and of course it’s not complete without some church activities. I too have been part of this group for far too long, except maybe the church activity part for I’m the first to leave after the service is over.

At 5pm promptly, we all hop into Shelly’s ‘hockey mom’ car. On the way to the store, there had been quite a bit of talk about how best to create the right mood for a romantic night. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I began to get very interested in the conversation and secretly imagined what I’d look like wearing something dramatically different from my usual ‘Jalabiyar’. We get into the store and after half an hour we had all settled on what we wanted. Bags in had, we skipped back to the car, made some small talk as we drove the 2 miles back to the office parking lot where we said our goodbyes and parted ways.

I pick up the kids and even enjoy singing along to ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ soundtrack on our way home. Normally, I play it to keep them quiet while I concentrate on the road, but on this day, it was less of a routine and more of a pleasure. We made it home, thankfully, without any drama and I proceeded with stage 2 of my plan for the night - feed and get them off to bed early. My ‘magic potion’ on this night was pounded yam and ‘afang’ soup (thick spicy vegetable soup). It has been proven by African moms to be a natural tranquilizer, those who rely on sleep meds should try it out for dinner, and if there was ever a night I was in need of some help it was this one. By the time dinner was ready, ‘Oga’ too had come home so we all ate together and talked about our days. He gave them a shower, read and tucked them in nicely. At last, some peace and quiet.

While he grabbed his beer and watched sports, I found a way to sneak into the room to freshen up and try on my spoils of the day. Admiring my not so flattering mid section, I said to myself as I looked into the mirror, “na me and you dis night Akpan” (it’s me and you babe). Imagine my utter disbelief when I get back downstairs only to find the kids watching the game with him! Ha! Before I could retreat, my son looked up at me and asked “Mom, why are you dressed funny?” What then came out of my mouth made my husband burst out laughing. I told him I was trying out a new Halloween costume. Of course hubby decoded immediately and seeing the prospect of a rollicking night disappear before his eyes, hurried to get them settled back into bed before Madam developed fatigue. Alas! ‘Curious George’ as we fondly call my 8 year old was not going to bed without a fight! We cajoled and tried every trick in the book, but these kids refused to sleep. I’m certain now the little monsters sensed something. Finally, accepting defeat, I too gave up my grand plans to ‘finish Oga’, changed into my faithful Jalabiyar and we all snuggled beneath the sheets and watched a movie. So much for my Friday plans.

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