I am a parent and a teacher

Parenting, like life is unpredictable, thus one has to roll with the flow. Like many parents all over Kenya, we have had to deal with the teachers’ strike. And victims are always the invisible parties stuck in between.

As a parent, I would want my children back to school but as a Kenyan I understand the teachers’ predicament. It is a difficult problem to ignore and it is even harder to take sides.

As I keep watching the raging debates on the screen, the reality hits me and I have to figure out what to do with our two very energetic children stuck in the house.

One of them keeps asking why the government cannot just “pay teachers so that we can go back to school.”

Since I do not have a simple answer to assure them that this would soon end, I have decided to take the place of their teachers.

I first sat them down and informed them it was time to start home schooling. We put our minds together and came up with our school name, timetable and got down to business.

As I took to teaching life skills on my first day, I quickly began to see the value of their teachers. I chose to do the class in the master bedroom to make it a bit cozy and less serious. Our first lesson was on ‘the four kinds of people in the world’ namely four personality types.

They were excited as I greeted them and introduced myself as Teacher M.M. meaning Teacher Mummy. As I simplified the topic on the tiny blackboard, I began to realise their brilliance.

I was amazed at how they were able to come up with the weaknesses of each personality on their own. This just made me realise I needed to read ahead for these were “little professors” in the making.

Even before I was done with the first trait, my daughter who is nine had something to say: “Teacher, I can already see my persona in the qualities we wrote down.”

My son, the seven-year old, on the other hand chose all the good qualities and disowned the negatives. I had to clarify that everyone had strengths and weaknesses.

They had many questions, and their faces shone with innate curiosity. They were real champions as they wrote down notes. But given my son’s age, I began to realise he needed to steam off the bubbling energy inside.

At some point I had to discipline him just to get him to focus. After a recess, I decided to call it a day and give them time to reflect.

In the end, I was grateful for the wonderful time we spent learning together. They got time to be taught by mummy and I had the pleasure of shaping their minds.

It reminded me of the reason why their father and I removed them from a private setting.

We wanted them to experience the best of both worlds like we did. And nothing builds adaptability like tackling different seasons, places and people.