The Act of Dissappearing

_{Photo by Tyler Nix}

African parents are known to always treat you like a kid no matter how old you are until you eventually leave their home to go stay on your own. I didn't know this until I went away for school. Back then when I had just finished high school, it was me and my little brother doing all of the house chores because my eldest brother was in school while my other elder brother had a business of his own.

So whenever my little brother was off to school in the morning, I was usually the one doing everything. I was like the free male servant of the house. Whenever anyone needed anything or was looking for anything in the house, my name was usually the name they would yell out loud because they all just automatically assumed that I knew where everything was, kinda like the second mommy of the house.

But then my eldest bro got back from school and I kinda assumed that the chores would be split among us, seeing how he was also going to be home all day for at least a month before returning back to school, but that wasn't the case. It was almost as if the man was invincible, everything still rested on my shoulders like I was Merlin, but then everything changed when it was time for me to go to school myself.

So I went and stayed in school for a year and when I got back, it was almost as if the family saw me as a new man, even I could tell that things had changed. The first week I arrived, I was treated like an egg (and that was expected) but after a while, I noticed they were about to go back to their previous routine of tormenting my life and that was when I ran off.

But it's been about four years now and if there's one thing I've noticed, it is that the lesser time they (both family and friends) see you and spend with you, the more valuable your time becomes to them and also the more respect you get from them.

I used my family as an example because I feel that's one common thing majority of us would easily relate to. So I guess what I'm just trying to say in a nutshell is that whenever you get tired of doing the dishes or home chores, it's never a bad idea to disappear for a while because when you do, trust me when I say you would notice a whole lot of difference with how you were being treated and how you would be treated when you do come back.

But also don't forget that family is everything and you shouldn't spend much time away from them because every time you spend with them is precious.