LEARNING THE HARD WAY - by 𝓢𝓪𝓶𝓾𝓮𝓵 𝕻𝖗𝖆𝖎𝖘𝖊

One hot afternoon, my mother sent me to buy something from the market. I was complaining to her about how hot the sun was, begging her to let me go in the evening instead. But I was chased out. 🤦‍♀️ Before leaving the house, I never knew my aunt was just looking at me from one side with one eye like this 👀, not knowing what she was planning for me. I went ahead to the market. On my way, I met an old classmate. We started talking and catching up, completely forgetting that I was supposed to buy something from the market. By the time I remembered, I rushed to the market, only to discover that I had lost the money my mother gave me to buy foodstuff. Omo. In my mind, I was already shaking. I started thinking about what I was going to do. I decided to go back and retrace my steps, hoping I might get lucky and see the money lying somewhere on the ground. God wasn’t on my side that day oo, because I did not see the money anywhere. Remembering how much I had complained before leaving the house and how angrily I walked out made everything worse. I trekked back home, thinking of possible excuses I could give my mother. Hmm. I was already dead in my mind. 😵 When I got home, luckily for me, my mom wasn’t around. I was happy at first, until I entered the house and met my mother’s sister. She calmly asked me about the foodstuff she was waiting for so she could cook while my mother was out. I told her I had lost the money on my way to the market. Before I could even finish explaining what happened, I collected one hot slap. 👋😭 She was shouting at me, but honestly, at that moment, I didn’t even hear what she was saying. Then she went inside, wore her bum shorts and came outside, chasing me out of the house. I ran like never before. That day, she told me not to come back to the house without the money, not caring how I was going to get it. I ran out of the compound crying, looking for the money. Then I remembered something. The previous night, I had used my savings to buy sweets for my friend’s birthday. I became angry with myself. I regretted spending that money because, at least, if I still had my savings, I could have used it to replace the money I lost. Now I had nothing. As I was walking around looking for the money, I saw one of my friends. I begged him for the money. At that time, ₦3,000 was BIG money to us. He told me he didn’t have it. I begged him again, asking if he knew anybody that could help me. He told me to wait. He went inside and brought out his savings box. He opened it and poured the money onto the ground. We both sat there, counting and selecting the ₦500 and ₦200 notes until we finally came up with the ₦3,000. I was so happy that I almost knelt down to say thank you.😭 On one side, I was happy because I had gotten the money. On the other side, I knew my mother was still going to shout at me when I got home. When I finally returned, I met the same aunty outside the door. I told her I had found the money on the ground. I couldn’t tell her that my friend gave me the money because I knew that would probably put me in another kind of trouble. 😭 She was still angry, but not as angry as before. That evening, when my mom came back, I was scared. She started shouting, so I went into the bedroom and pretended to be asleep. Unfortunately for me, my neighbour told her what had happened. But instead of being angry with me for losing the money, my mother became angry with my aunty. She asked her why she would send me back out to look for the money without caring what could happen to me. She said, “What if something happened to her on her way? What would I have done?” That was my saving grace. I was so happy she wasn’t angry with me anymore. I had lost the money, but somehow, my mother was more worried about the fact that I could have been hurt while looking for it. That day taught me something I never forgot. Keep your money safe. 😂💸 But looking back now, I also learnt something else. As much as children should learn to be responsible for their mistakes, adults should also remember that a child’s safety comes first. Money can be replaced. Things can be bought again. But if something had happened to me while I was out looking for that money, no amount of ₦3,000 would have been enough to fix it. So yes, I learnt the hard way to keep money safe. But I also learnt that when a child makes a mistake, correct them, teach them, but never forget to protect them. Because at the end of the day, the money can come back. The child might not.

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