Mr Survivor: Pleasant Fathers’ Day surprise from my future leaders

For the decade and above I have been married to Queen, she has never noted, leave alone celebrated my birthday, among other worthy days like Men’s Day and Fathers’ Day. This is in spite of the fact that I have religiously celebrated all her special days with parties organised in military precision.

To be fair to Queen, I am probably to blame because I do not remind her of the days. This is because of one major reason. You see, because of my busy schedule in family and nation building, I always forget about the special days until after they are long gone. And because Queen reminds me of her important days and I have dutifully celebrated her and with her, I have always expected her to remind me of mine.

Well, in matters to do with Queen, I suffer from a malady called great expectations. To expect her to remind me of my important days is suffering from a bloated ego and Queen has done everything possible to deflate it. This obviously shows that Queen has been avoiding spending, nay, wasting her time in celebrating my milestones as a man, her husband, and father to our boys. As a survival tactic meant to console my bruised heart and mind, I have always dismissed such days as a hype meant for show-off and observed by idlers.

Now, after the many years of exclusion from family happiness, I had all the reason to smile on Sunday. My salvation came from the most unexpected quarters—our future leaders. I attribute their unprecedented godsend intervention to the CBC. Perhaps this CBC thing, which the village professors at Happy Valley have baptised as a ‘completely bogus curriculum’, has something good in it, after all.

Coming back to the meaty part of this missive, the three palace musketeers, alias, the future leaders, staged a pleasant surprise on Sunday morning. As you most likely remember, Sunday morning is my family meeting time. “Baba, tuko na zawadi yako,” said the lastborn son, the family ombudsman.

“Nitashukuru sana,” I said.

“Leo ni siku gani?” asked the firstborn, the family critic.

I sensed that there was something hidden in the question but could not crack the puzzle.

“Leo ni jumapili ya katikati ya mwezi,” I said. The future leaders laughed so loudly that I really got embarrassed.

The boys realised that I was completely behind news. You see, after many years of selective abandonment by Queen, I must confess that I was not aware that it was Fathers’ Day.

“Baba, yani hujuileo ni siku gani?” asked the ombudsman.

To save me from further embarrassment, the boys handed me a hand-written card. It was made from a drawing paper. A drawing of a man, certainly their idea of yours truly; Concorde, my beloved Volkswagen Beetle; and the words ‘Happy Fathers’ Day’. From the handiwork, I could tell that the crayons and drawing books I have been buying had been put to good use.

As they gave me the card, they broke into song and dance. ‘Fathers’ Day’ rent the air, inviting the attention of Queen.

“What is happening here?” Queen asked, emerging from the kitchen. “You should be prepared for Sunday school, not singing meaningless songs here!” Queen shouted.

“We are singing Fathers’ Day to dad. See the Fathers’ Day card we drew for him,” said the family ombudsman.

“Haiya, haiya. You make me laugh. Who told you about such things?” Queen asked.

“Mwalimu alisema hivyo,” the boys said in unison. At that juncture, I realised that the whole idea was the genius work of the future leaders.

“Where will we go to celebrate the Fathers’ Day?” asked the critic.

I did not have the privilege of time to think twice. And why would I have to think when my children had done what my wife should have done? This was the first day I was going to be celebrated as a doting father to my children.

“You can decide where you want to go,” I said. The boys became very excited.

“Where we went last Sunday,” said the first born.

“Yes, Holiday Premier iko sawa,” said the last born.

And for the first time in my life, the future leaders made it possible for me to observe the day. Rather, the boys celebrated me as their father.

And from the look of things, it is like the boys are starting to learn that whatever negative gossip their mother tells them about me is untrue. I am highly hoping that they will change her so that the original marital harmony is restored.  To the future leaders, I say, asante sana.

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