African mothers always issue warnings left, right and center.
As a child, I genuinely believed my mother worked closely with intelligence services, because how else do you explain the things they know?
"Do not sit on cold cement." Why? "You will see." See WHAT exactly?
African mothers don't even bother to explain. They simply spell out the warning and leave you in the room of confusion.
"Do not laugh too much with people." "Why?" "You will know them." Again, know WHAT?
The warnings were endless.
"Stop whistling at night."
"Do not point at graves."
"Do not sleep immediately after eating."
"Do not make your face like that, it will remain." Remain HOW? Is my face wet cement?
Some warnings sounded scientifically impossible. "If you swallow chewing gum, your stomach will stick." To what exactly?
Others sounded just too dramatic. "Those friends of yours…" Not even a complete sentence, just vibes and suspicion.
As children, we dismissed these warnings constantly, then in adulthood, we pay the price.
The "good friend" she distrusted immediately? Disaster. The shortcut she warned you against? Theft. The relationship she squinted at for three seconds and rejected? Character development.
At this point, I believe African mothers not only predict the future, but also have extensive experience with human nonsense. What is worse is that their methods are frightening.
An African mother could identify bad behavior from footsteps alone. You enter the compound slightly differently and immediately, "What have you done?" Nothing yet, but now you feel guilty.
The funny thing is that as children, we thought our mothers were overreacting. As adults, we slowly become them. Now I even find myself distrusting certain people based entirely on vibes and hairstyles.
From where my feet are, African mothers did not just raise children. It was long-term survival training.
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