BOMBOY-ISM

My people, how una dey? Oh, for the pidgin challenged among us, that simply means "how are ya?"lol!

The weekend was too short and action packed. It was spent running around with husband and kids doing errands. But, I was kept entertained by the colorful suggestions so many of you gave to "Fatou" about her "ancient toasters" problem. Thank you all for taking the time to offer her advice.

But, back to the matter for today. The topic of discussion is "Bomboy-ism". "Bomboy-ism" is defined in the Dictionary of All Things SolomonSydelle (which is coming to a fine bookstore near you) as,

Bomboyism (v) behavior that falls short of bullying, "ogboju"
behavior would be considered wickedness if not because the actor is a small, bossy child

Yes, my baby son, who just turned 1 a few weeks ago, has been throwing his weight around in my house. He does not realize that he is the youngest person here. He crawls up to his sister and pulls her hair if she won't share some of her naan with him or he smacks his big brother on the head when TK takes a toy away from him. His temper is meteoric and his bravado or, rather, bomboyism stunts are beginning to 'whip' his siblings into line. lol!

Primary Example: Lunchtime in the backyard
Whenever we have nice warm weather, I allow the kids to run around the backyard and eat lunch outside on their Spongebob Squarepants table set. Bomboy is allowed to sit and eat on my lap as I sit on the back steps having lunch with the older kids. Well, on Saturday afternoon, TK and TE were eating creamy macaroni and cheese with yummy chicken.

Bomboy went outside and held the table to keep himself standing. He moved over to his sister's side and tried to grab a piece of chicken. TE shouted "No!" Bomboy gave her 'the look' and within 2 seconds, TE picked up the chicken and gave it to Bomboy saying, "Okay, baby brother here's some chicken." Bomboy accepted her offering and said "Da kum" (he says that whenever he is happy).

Bomboy, still holding until the table, moved over to TK's side of the table. Unlike TE, TK had eaten his chicken first and so, only had macaroni and cheese in his bowl. Bomboy looked at the bowl and reached his hand to grab some macaroni and cheese. TK shouted, "No, baby! No, mac and cheese for youuuuuu."

Big mistake. Bomboy looked at his older brother. He watched TK fill his mouth with macaroni and cheese. He watched the creamy cheese dribble down the side of TK's mouth, slide down his chin and unto his shirt. He watched TK pick up his cup and take a swig of refreshing and glistening cold water and say, "Ah...."

All of a sudden, time went still. From my position in the backyard, where I was watering the corn TE is growing, I saw Bomboy's left hand rise up oh, so slowly. TK was busy giggling with his sister TE, oblivious to the coming disaster. Bomboy's hand, nonetheless, continued to rise and I dropped the water can and started to move towards the table. But, as is the case when the world goes into slow motion, I was not quick enough to stem the action that I knew was coming once I saw Bomboy's determined look.

Bomboy flung his hand, hard, into TK's bowl. Macaroni and cheese flew violently in every direction. Bomboy then grabbed the bowl, crawled off onto the cottony soft grass that his father has been grooming in preparation for summer barbecues in the backyard, and settled into stuffing his 4-teeth filled mouth with as much mac and cheese as possible!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The fallout was incredible! TK started screaming "Mama" in protest. TE's eyes widened in shock and she watched her baby brother zoom past her with a bowl in one hand. I was still running towards the scene of the bomboyism. And, Officer Bomboy? Well, he looked at his brother through the corner of his eye and spoke, with a full mouth, saying, "bedada ga baba!!!!" (which in Bomboy lingo means, "you should have given me a little bit in the first place!").

As I was too busy trying to control my laughter, I simply calmed TK down and went into the kitchen to get him some more chicken. I then walked over to Bomboy, picked him up, took him to his brother, told him to say sorry, which he did, and then took him back to his position in the yard to enjoy his ill-gotten mac and cheese.

And, this is just one of many incidents where Bomboy has shown his siblings who is the boss. God, please help me. Help me teach this boy to know that he cannot just 'step up' to people that are bigger than him. Thank you Lord for his brave streak, though! Help Husband and I keep the peace in this house, because Bomboyism is serious!