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The metamorphosis of the Kenyan daddy

Over the years daddy has made major strides in the area of play. He is more playful and at ease with his wife and kids than his daddy- predecessors who were among the most rigid and serious people in society then.

Daddy says that his predecessors in the daddy-office usually started out as free spirited and good-humored single guys but once they married things seemed to slowly change. The addition of children to the family seemed to make them more emotionally distant. They became masters at crushing any attempt at playful chatter from any quarter in the house. Their wives forgot that these guys ever used to crack jokes or engage in real conversation. The kids actually doubted whether daddy could converse in full sentences since all his utterances were only serious monosyllables or one-word sentences like wee(you!), eeh, kuja(come), enda(go), rudi, nini hiyo? Not unless something was seriously wrong, that is all the ‘conversation’ they heard from him.

His predecessors had kiti ya baba (dad’s seat) which no child was allowed to touch leave alone sit on. They demanded to be served on sahani ya baba (dad’s plate) which happened to be the biggest and prettiest plate in the house. They would not accept anything but the choicest cut of the meat. After that, everybody else could be served.

Daddy appreciates that it is hard to maintain an easy and playful spirit while shouldering a huge responsibility like fatherhood. He admits that some perks like having a special dad’s seat, plate, first serving etc are actually a great idea for easing things up for him but if they are going to create such a huge power distance,  like they did with his predecessors, and erode the sentiment between him and his house team then he will let go today. He does not want to jeopardize his chances of receiving a necktie or a card this fathers’ day.

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Actually, daddy today has a great sense of humor. Even though he knows that the money Junior and mom spend buying his fathers’ day gift will come out of his pocket and only a tiny fraction of it will actually be used to buy the gift- the same gift he got last year (a tie), he will still act surprised. He will be genuinely delighted though because the thought really counts.

Have an easy fathers’ day