She was Number 1.

Wouldn't it be great if our parents were really all number 1. Like bila uwongo, how proud would you be if you din't stumble on that report form that was written Baba Nani got an F in math in Std.2 or before you discovered your "employee of the month" mother repeated form 1. We will all tell our kids when and if we get them that we were the brightest, the fastest and just one leap from being wonder woman/ superman. I know for sure I'm not going to tell my kids I got 28% in my math paper in Form 2 or that I may have cheated in my Std. 5 science exam AND never ever will I be the one to tell them about my many education mishaps in Campus. According to them, I was an A+ student.

Well it is mostly true, I was number 1 for like 3 years in Primary, almost number 1 in high school and well campus never graded us like that so I will never know.

I have pretty brilliant folks so I usually don't doubt that at some point they were leading the pack with great margins but why do all parents go out of their way to convince you they were the best?

The answer is simple. Every one wants someone to look up to them especially their own kids. You are their first role model. Even being able to pee inside the toilet bowl like daddy is a great achievement to them. I don't want them to seeing my weaknesses, discovering my failures. To their small innocent eyes, I should be and I am wonder woman. When the kid jumps from the top of the bed, to my husband's (hypothetical husband. lest we get confused) beer belly, I need him to take it like a man and bite his inner lip so that his tears don't flow.

If I am great then the possibility is the mini-me's I brought into this dark and hard world will want to be great. Everyone has made mistakes. Some more than others but I don't need them seeing or knowing them and I especially don't want them repeating history and finding our how bad that decision was and always will be. I need them to believe they are the greatest, the brightest, and a leap away from superman/ wonder woman.

So was I no. 1? Hell yes. Every single time I picked up my pen to that exam, every time I ran in a race, every single time I entered a competition. Hopefully when they are older, they will be bright enough to realise I was lying through my teeth but by then they would really have been number 1 in whatever they did so it really won't matter. i will be too busy beaming in parental pride to care if they realised. I am and will always be number 1.