Saturday, August 6, 2011

THIS GIRL SEF....


This girl sef would not kill me. I'll call her Tana for the purpose of this post. When she started work in January she could barely converse in English language but now she's improved a lot. When she speaks Yoruba she sounds like egun (she's actually one). I like her for one thing; she takes care of my 15 months old lil woman so well that I’ve heard a lot of testimonies of her good behavior towards her. Being a working mom and the one that lives in Lagos for that matter, Tana is my lil woman’s playmate, sister amongst other things, so I wasn't surprised that "nana" ( Tana) is the next word lil woman could pronounce after "Memmy" (Mummy) and "Deddy" (Daddy).

However, my fear about this nana is that she is not schooled nor lettered, she just speaks whatever form of English that she could express herself in without worrying about its correctness or not. I pray my lil woman won't pick her bad English oh 'cos her niece that is a little above 3 years has been picking some wrong words from "nana". My lil woman’s niece mum complained to me some weeks back that "nana" had influenced her dotta's spoken English, I made light of the issue and told her right away that the nana is trying despite the fact that she's not lettered but deep down in me, I’m worried for my lil woman. To be honest nana’s pronunciation of some words like “lemove it” (remove it), “bling it” (bring it), “nothing blin my hand” (nothing is in my hand) etc gives me worry about my lil woman.
Another thing "nana" does to escape my chastisement most times is to begin to tell me about lil woman's activities of the day. She knows that no matter how tired I am, I would always love to hear anything about lil woman so when she knows she's flawed one of my orders, she's always very quick to tell me about lil woman, over time I got to know her trick and once she goes on to say " Mummy, Tofunmi o sere gan l'oni oh in egun dialect (Tofunmi played a lot today) the next thing I say is “ki la tun ri gbo oh (What is it this time?).
You know naturally kids are attracted to kiddie’s jingles on T.V, oh my “nana” knows a couple of these songs and would thrill my lil woman with songs, I don’t know if you know this Ovaltine ad Nana will go on and thrill the “whole house” by singing “I’m walking on “shoneshine” oh oh (I’m walking on sunshine oh oh), the indomie ad, the cowbell ad to mention a few. I just love this girl ‘cos she brings smile to our faces at the least expected time. God bless Nana.

13 comments:

  1. LOL @ Nana's sly trick of always talking about the baby. Smart woman
    Working mothers dont have it easy
    It is always a balancing act - of being productive at work, running a home and raising kids properly.
    Never being easy.
    May God continue to keep your daughter safe and happy.

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  2. I don't think you should worry too much about her picking up the wrong way of saying things because you are there to correct it and when she starts school that will be fixed too, if it happens to be a problem.

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  3. Eeya, its good to know that the only thing you worry about is the english, at least she has a good attitude. Please, keep her well, cos good helps are hard to come by. You can always correct the english when you little one starts picking it up. All the best
    It has really been long o

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  4. lol.....omdz! she sounds like another nana I know...awww bless her

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  5. @NIL:I agree with you totally, it aint easy to be a working mother but the grace of God makes the difference. Amen to your prayers Cheers.

    @Madame Sting: I ensure i correct her immediately i notice she's speaking one of "her bad" tenses. Thanks for stopping by.

    @ilola: She's quite alright i must admit, i'm trying my best on keeping her oh, but it all depends on her guardian if they allow her come back. Its really been long oh sis, i need to be more consistent. (I'll want to be like you when i grow up) lol.

    @Sisi: really! she sounds like another nana you know. Thanks for stopping by.

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  6. nice one, u should av posted nana's pix for us now...lol

    Coincidentally, i also have a post to share on my Princess' "P.A" (that's what I call her)but from another view point entirely.

    Weldone!!!

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  7. This made me laugh though I can understand your worry, but the bad English can be corrected with time. All the best.

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  8. "Omoba: Thanks for stopping by. Can't wait to read about your P.A's story oh. Nana's pic... it didn't occur to me that i should do it.

    @Myne: Thanks for stopping by as well, at least you can understand my worries...

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  9. Kids pick lots of stuff, like my lil niece used to call her parents by their first name cos thats what she hears them call each other. In no time, she will learn the correct terms so dont worry. And yeah, good helps are hard to find o.

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  10. lol kids do ok...when she speaks the wrong english you correct her :)

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  11. I always read dis blog over & over again...... It makes me smile

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  12. Your happiness is all that matters and nothing else, language notwithstanding.

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  13. I guess by now ur 'Tana' would have improved a lot :)

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