REFLECTIONS.

Growing up in a tough home was not easy. Play time was restricted so much and dad

was always shouting at us about noise. He always said, "muryaho nimutera orwari,

timwine bitabo byokushoma??". Meaning, don't you have books to read instead of

making unnecessary noise?..

He wanted quiet around the house you see.

  We found ways to go around it.

Imagine trying to play hide and seek without a squeak.

Playing in the rain was our one guarantee of not getting caught...except for the getting

wet part of course.

We would stand under the gargoyles/drain pipes for the roof and giggle

uncontrollably...or shout and scream, well knowing we wouldn't be over heard.

Then skipping in the mud puddles would come next.

I do not know how we got away with this, but somehow we did.

My favourite game of all though was finding as many sununu (dandelions) and blowing

on them. The one who collected most and blew them farthest was the winner.

  The other day a child didn't know what a sununu was or what it did and that broke my

heart. To see her pure joy in seeing the little bits blown away by her breath was

absolute satisfaction. I know every time she sees one now, she will share that

knowledge.

  What can I say about childhood games? They were fun and talking about them now

makes me smile.

  Later on, I came to understand how much noise we make as children.

I'm now the" bad person who doesn't want children to play".

By Grace Ninsiima