Lo and behold, Saturday, September 14, 2019, took me out in the rain ☔️ 🌧 . It wasn’t funny and it wasn’t convenient one bit but, it had to be done. Worst still we had no umbrella. Daddy did his best to get us as close to the entrance as possible, but we still got some rain on us. Yes! I agree that we are not ‘salt’ as my Naija people would say, but it’s not fun to get wet and sit in a fully air-conditioned room. At least say sorry nah! 😭😭😭.
I definitely would have preferred to be under my duvet, sipping my favorite flavor of tea and maybe watching a movie on Netflix.😌😌😌. . . but it wasn’t happening.😢😭😤
WHERE DID WE GO???
We (Daddy, Mummy, Kix, and Kax) had to be at the British Council, Ikoyi.
WHAT TOOK US THERE???
It was the Award Ceremony of the 2019 episode of the 30 Books Challenge, hosted by the British Council and Young Readers Club. This year’s episode was tagged, ‘SPACE CHASE’. The challenge was for the kids to read 30 books in 30 days and write reviews for each book in a journal.
The book requirements covered;
•Books on space (to accommodate this year’s theme)
•Indigenous books (some in English and some in local languages)
•Fiction and
•Non-fiction
Even as I am typing it, I am having a headache, it was no mean feat my people. Fancy reading 30 books in 30 days, plus writing reviews for each book daily??? The girls naturally love to read but this one come be like children’s MBA Course. I must confess that even I may not have pulled through. It started with excitement on the first 3 days but as the days went by, it became a thorn in their flesh. Especially because they still had to do their regular home chores and give attention to their book writing projects🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️. I must confess that at some point I felt bad for getting them on board this challenge. Their workload for the summer seemed daunting and overwhelming.
We were on board already so giving up was not an option. So I encouraged them to push, push and push some more until day 30. Needless to say that I became the enemy of the state in that house🤦🏽♀️. Their dad joined his voice to encourage them o! But NO!!! I was the main person they targeted the frustration at. Fellow #MummyDutyAssociates, note that they will be vexed at you but dig your heels in, set your face like a flint, eyeball the goal and remain dogged.
WHO SEND US WORK???
Madam #MummyDuties 🙋🏽♀️, but hear me out🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽. I didn’t mean evil at all😏😏😏. I was only searching around for opportunities that could boost and test their reading and writing skills, seeing that this was their area of strength. I was only trying to help biko.
WHO BENEFITTED ???
Help me answer the question, please. They both got medals and certificates for completion. In addition, Kix won the best journaling for her category and got interviewed by Channels Television. They won’t remember now that I had to occasionally shout out the air in my lungs daily, encouraging them to keep pushing and not relent.🚶♀️🚶♀️🚶♀️
I was glad though, to hear them say that hard work truly pays. This 30 Books Challenge definitely built resilience and grit in them.
We need to know and need to encourage our young ones too that. . .
LIFE LESSONS
- Sometimes you don’t feel up to it, but you’ve got to do it regardless.
- If you have to do it, then DO IT WELL, give it your very best shot.
- Pushing the limits to do it and DO OT WELL, builds RESILIENCE and GRIT in you.
- RESILIENCE and GRIT make you a GO-GETTER and an Achiever
It was tough, but I am glad we all took lessons away from it. This for me is the motivation and encouragement to keep up with #MummyDuties