The Fallacy of Nigerian Parenting

Hey, all. I'm not my usual happy self. Yesterday was a day full of tears, insults, assumptions and just all around negative chi. It was the most honest conversation I've had with my parents, yet nothing was resolved. I feel like after all that, nothing has changed except for the temporary walking on egg shells.

One thing that was established last night, or better yet, re-established, was the hierarchical system of parent and child. Parents tell their children what to do, no matter how rudely, harshly, or unnecessarily mean they do it. They are validated because they are Nigerian. Children are supposed to blindly obey and do whatever you ask (whether it is to clean the kitchen or eat hot coals) with a grin.

I thought I reached a breakthrough with my mother, but every time we seemed on the verge of doing so, she just got back up and mocked me, saying things were 10X worse in Nigerian.

Let me just start off and say: WE ARE NOT IN NIGERIA!!! I don't know how many times we have to say that. Yes, y'all had it rough and we understand your sacrifice, but don't blame us for everything. Don't take out your anger on the outside world and bring it to your home, then say you have a right to do whatever because you are Nigerian.

Another thing, it's like Nigerian parents are NEVER wrong. My dad, who has never tried to pursue a relationship with his daughters, is validated because why wouldn't I go downstairs and tell him about my life? He's a Nigerian man, so it's all okay. It's all my fault, see? My mom isn't wrong to beat me STILL when there's a miscommunication. She can use her harsh tones on me, but she catches the slightest detection of disrespect and I am super evil.See how quick the whole "we don't understand we are yelling" excuse vanishes?

Nigerians are more like Americans than they believe, because they are both hypocrites. I hope to God that I don't raise my kids as hypocritically as my parents have done so. I appreciate everything they do, but I can no longer deal with trying to balance the two worlds. They want my American independence, but Nigerian obedience.

From now on, I just need to be the dutiful Nigerian daughter they want. They'll probably be too overjoyed to not hear me speak to realize that I'm just an empty shell. Oh, well. Three more summers of this (if that) and I'm living in LA full time.

Until then,

S.

World Cup 2010: A Review

I highly doubt it, but if you haven't heard, Spain won the World Cup. I'm happy, because I was pulling for Spain to beat Netherlands. Nothing against the Dutch; I just knew more players (Fabregas, Torres, and Casillas) to the only player on the Dutch side (but my heart will always belong to you, Van Persie ;)

Despite the happiness I felt, I also felt a bit of disappointment. I wasn't super excited about this World Cup. I was super excited to see it start, but with the daily shuffle of going to school and working, the World Cup fell to the wayside.

A Couple Factors contributed to this lukewarm feeling to the World Cup:

1) Big Disappointments:

Messi, Ronaldo, Kaka, and Rooney. All were big-name superstars expected to lift their teams to glory. Unfortunately, they all choked. I don't want to be a douche about it and say mean things, but when you're at the professional level, it shouldn't matter how much you're being paid to play for a club. Every soccer playing kids' dream is to play for the World Cup and I feel like they wasted their opportunities.

In addition, France and Italy: Returning finalist were booted first? What is the world coming to? Both teams failed to make it out of their brackets. I guess it's true what they say about soccer never being constant.

2) Spoilers

Everytime I wanted to do something innocent like check my e-mail, the score would be plastered on my homepage. That's how I learned the score of several important games. In fact, the games that I really wanted to watch were already posted.

It wasn't just me. My dad, a huge soccer fanatic, complained that many American radio stations who couldn't tell a corner kick from a penalty kick, would ruin the score at midday.

It's hard to enjoy a game when you know what the score is. I can't sit there in agony, knowing my favorite will meet their demise when I watch the recorded games with my dad.

3) America's Obsession with Landon Donovan

Landon Donovan and the US Team. That's another subject that still pisses me off. US got a few good wins, but their wins were based of last minute moments of brilliance and sheer luck; no good team should skate by on that alone.

Besides that, the American media, who has never taken a liking to soccer, decided to hoist America on their shoulders, join the World Cup bandwagon and overestimated US's potential. Needless, they got served by Ghana (Black Stars, ftw!). Which leads me to my next point.....

4) Ghana Getting Cheated by Suarez

This still really makes me mad. From a tactical point of view, it was a very smart and self-sacrificing move. From an ethical point of view, it was cowardly and dishonorable. I don't care if Ghana had a chance to make it up after, Suarez single-handedly (or double-handedly?) stole a victory from them. I couldn't believe it when I heard it and I can't believe that all the wanker got was a red card!

It's okay, Ghana had the support of all of Africa and we still love them for going farther than the other four countries in this World Cup. Plus, they got to meet with Nelson Mandela!

5) Cristiano Ronaldo has a Baby??

He waited til NOW to say he had a son! What the hell, man? I thought we had something special? Sob, sob, sob.

That's all for now! Thanks for listening :)

Until Next Time,

S.

Feeling Unhappy....

Hey, All. Sorry for the long absence. Decided to throw a quick blurb out into cyberspace about my body image.

For the most part, I look healthy. I have an hourglass shape (that you can barely depict, but hey, measurements don't lie) and I'm athletic. If you were to guess my weight, you'd be astonished. I've been blessed with a great frame to hide unpleasant weight gain. I've been able to coast off of the fact that I'm playing sports or that muscle weighs more than fat and all that.

But today in church (Catholics, holla!), I felt very subconscious. Throughout the day, I was dissatisfied with my green t-shirt because I felt that it wasn't super flattering. Of course, I wore the same outfit to church. My normally perfect-fit skinny jeans gave me a muffin top that I could actually feel. I felt uber-sensitive, as if someone from the pew behind me would reach over and grab my love-handles.

Suffice to say, I never feel this self-conscious. But being me, I'm determined to do something about it. I'm gonna live my life by three simple goals (at least until summer's over):

1) Eat healthy and right.

2) Exercise regularly

3) Buy clothes that FIT, regardless of the size.

I'd rather be a perfectly fitting 8 or 9 then a barely-contained size 6 or 7 (or better yet, I'd rather be a perfectly fitting 4 or 6.....).

That's all. Thought I'd share :)

Until Next Time,

S.

P.S. Spain won the World Cup. More on that later...

Why I Love to Exercise

Hello, all. I hope you had a "Happy Americans Who Didn't Want to Pay Taxes Day", or Independence Day, as it is commonly known. I had a surprisingly chill one myself, which is really weird, since I am the daughter of immigrants. On the other hand, "Happy 4th of July" was not explicitly expressed, we just happened to have a barbecue that same day.

Regardless, after stuffing my face (and stomach) with countless rolls of bread (I'm gonna pay for that later), I woke up this morning with the resolve to go to the gym. I surprised myself with sticking with it (I usually talk myself out of it before rising from the bed). I went to the local gym and busted out a 20-minute treadmill workout at about 6.5mph.

This is great news for me, because it is helping me reach my goal of running straight for 30 minutes. I'm trying to get back into soccer shape, so the more I run (and faster, too), the better shape I'll be in for tryouts in the fall.

I was feeling full of cheer, so I decided to dedicate this post on why I love to exercise. Check it out:

1) I get to escape the stress of the day and just focus on one thing: my training.

2) My body image improves (I look at my legs and am pleased to see the muscles in my quads working as I run)

3) I feel more confident and proud knowing that I'm working to chisel a body that I will be proud of later.

4) I actually feel energized and ready to go about my day's activities

5) I eat less, knowing that I can't overeat and waste the calories I spent so much time burning.

6) I guzzle so much water during the day after I exercised.

7) I sweat and I actually feel pretty sweating :)

8) People see me as a healthy individual, and although you shouldn't care what other people think, it does boost your confidence.

9) I feel good knowing that I'm losing inches and buying smaller sizes in clothes.

10) It just makes me happy.

I posted it here, so next time I think of a reason why I don't want to workout I have proof of my euphoric feelings later.

Until Next Time,

S.

I Got a Job!

Hello, all! Today, I got a job offer at......

Best Buy! This is sweet for a couple reasons:

a) I've got a job. Now I can spend my hard-earned money on stuff like vanilla-shea butter and clothes (I've got to add more skinny jeans to my collection. I've been wearing the same 3 in rotation, hoping no one notices, lol)

b) I passed their personality aptitude test. Last time I applied (two years ago), they threw out my application because my personality was "all over the place". Believe me, when you answer 200 questions on whether or not you're "creative" or "like to work with people", your answers will also get kinda scattered.

3) Money! Need I say more? I'm a broke college student. Give me a break.

4) I get to work with my cool bud, G-Bach. We went to high school and now we are going to college together. Apparently, he's my superior/training person, so I need to go through him to earn my blue shirt. I'll just have to expedite that process so I'm not wearing a white shirt like a noob.

5) It's close to home; I can ride my bike like the French do. The French are so glamorous.

6) Hot guys. Hot guys + Love for Electronics= Naturally stopping by Best Buy. Hello, flirting ops.

That's all for now. The environment seems coo and relaxed, so hopefully I'll like this job better than the last ones. Now to move onto that pesky drug test....

Until Next Time,

S