DON'T GROW UP,
IT'S OVERRATED!
Itty Okim
I
watch her sleep in peace, so obvious in the way her lips make minor
movements that tell she's trapped in some dream world; probably
raining insults on me in her cute baby language and the tiniest voice I've
ever heard.
I love my three year old niece. So much.
She makes we wonder how soon I will birth one of her kind. When? Just
when would I be old enough by societal standards to partake in the process
that gives rise to children? Not for the pleasure of the process, but that of
having to take care of the result who I already love even more than myself.
But on second thought (and a second attempt by my three year old niece to
set herself free from the trap of the dream world), I really don't want to grow
up anymore. Obviously, I don't want to die yet, but I have fears of increasing
in age, size, responsibility, pain, obligations and all the rest. I'm super
scared of growing up!
I picture troubles accumulating - like sand and other rubbish does to form a
sedimentary rock - as we age. And from my little analysis, if my pile is this
much of a burden only after eighteen years of stacking, the future would be
really rocky. I might have too many problems on my neck; so much so that
my bones could fail and break.
I don't wish the same for my three year old niece. I don't want her to grow
up. Of course, because I don't wish for her death, she will increase in age.
Half of a hundred, a hundred, a hundred and half; however long she
wishes to live.
But I pray that she never gets troubled by the lemons life will throw at her. I
pray that she learns to empty herself every now and then and love herself
and not get overwhelmed by responsibilities. I pray that she doesn't ever
struggle with her self-worth and that life would be a bed of roses for her.
Oh, her lips are moving again. This time, they are wide open and cries are
tumbling out of them. I have to pet her back to sleep. Adios. Don't grow up.
Itty is a young new media journalist and thought leader from Nigeria. Read
him @ittyokim on all social media platforms.
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