Do you ever sit back and reflect on your childhood and notice how different things are today? It often feels like behaviours that were once deemed unacceptable are now embraced, and in some cases, celebrated. As a society, we seem to overlook many aspects of childhood, all in the name of allowing children to express themselves.
When I was very little and we went to visit someone with my mum. I remember how she would warn us before we set off not to take anything we were offered. We already knew not to collect anything, but she still deemed it fit to lecture us just before we set off. It was the same thing when people came visiting. You learn this from a very young age, and soon it becomes a way of life for you.
However, there were times when I, for one, got carried away as the smallest and almost took something from people. Then I would feel someone was staring at me, and when I looked to my side, I would see my mum giving me ‘the look’. That look from your mum when you are doing what she doesn’t approve of. It conveys a lot of warnings without it being actually said. The look was enough to freeze you in your tracks, it was almost like having cold water poured on you.
I realised the look was not reserved for a few mothers; it was like a universal language for all mothers. It almost seemed like an initiation to being a mother. It was like a telepathic transmission from one mother to another. What made it even more amazing was that the look was very precise and very distinct from any other look.
However, all this seems to have changed with the children nowadays. The look which held us in check now seemed to have faded away. I was in a salon where there was a woman with her little daughter. The little girl was having her hair done when the owner of the salon came in. She greeted everyone, and when she got to the girl, she asked if she wanted a drink. I immediately looked at the mum who was looking at her daughter with a look. The little girl looked at her, and it was what she said next that shocked me.
‘‘Mummy, what is wrong with your eye?”. The mum burst out into nervous laughter, although we all knew what had happened. The salon owner got the message and just smiled and went into her office. I just knew the mum felt like entering the ground or going to hide herself, but this little girl sat without a care in the world. If it were back in the day, the mum would have reacted differently.
This made me realise that children nowadays don’t know the gravity of the look, or if they do, they choose not to pay attention because the consequences are not as grave. The universal-mum look seems to have lost its effect and potency as children boldly look their mums in the face and still do the things they want to do without giving it much thought.
This is just an example of the many things we have lost in society, all in the bid to become westernised. While it is good to change with the times, we shouldn’t allow the times to change our very essence. The look was and should be a part of every household to keep the children in line and disciplined.
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Featured Image by CottonBro for Pexels
