My daughter

A few people I know have gotten the previledge of getting daughters. Part of their flesh and blood. A continuation of the legacy that was passed onto them by their parents and their parents' parents. I have also had the pleasure of listening to fathers talk about their daughters. The pride they have in their voices just make me want to give that pleasure to a special, deserving man out there. It makes me want to have a daughter.

My family is not particularly fond of bringing forth girls to the world. The women drop boys in quick succession and then hopefully, somewhere in the flurry, a little gem of pink shall squeeze through shyly into the world. I was one of the few flurries of pink that overcame. (hail the princess.......enough!!)So talking as a daughter to parents who I hope speak of me with pride in the streets. In fact, I hope they stop strangers on the street and tell them about my general awesomeness and beauty. I want to let another little girl come onto the world and know that everything will be alright. That her mum and dad will be there for her and no matter what, she can be anything, anywhere in the world.

I want a daughter who I can torture into learning to prepare edible food because my mother ensured that I shall not starve when left by myself and neither of course will the boys, her husband included. My mother expected only the best of me and still does. To push myself to a place only I can, to go to places only I can and to be grateful for every step I take in the right direction. I want my daughter to learn all these things and much more. I want a daughter who I can pass on my Nyeri roots and genes to. A girl who does not understand the meaning of nonsense and mediocrity. A girl with a personality of gold. I really don't care whether she is like me or not, I just want her to know that it is alright to be who she is and to make no apologies for who she is.

But most of all, I want a daughter who will have a father like mine. A man who will have such high standards that nothing but the best men shall be accepted into her life. That she shall judge all men with a haughty disposition because she understands what a good man ought to be. A father who carries her high up on his shoulders and listens to her amble on about her dreams. I want her to sit with her father for hours and discuss things that are important and mundane because she should never fear a man, least of all her father. I want her to be friends with the one man who will protect her from everything humanly possible and teach her how to protect herself. A man who will teach her how to be stronger than breaking hearts and immature men. Bigger than insecure bosses and weak bullies who have nothing better to do in life. A man who will teach her to fear no one but God.

"A son is a son till he gets a wife; a daughter is a daughter for the rest of her life." - Unknown

I want a daughter who will teach us everything in this world that we have refused to learn. Like responsibility and accommodation and forgiveness. Because if the rumours are true, and my personal experience is anything to go by, she shall push each and every sore button that I have and then some. A girl who will teach me about the change in fashion and gossip loudly about boys when she thinks I'm not listening. I want a daughter I can take for shopping so that I can choose for her clothes that she will never wear. I want a daughter who will teach me how to take risks and walk on the edge. Who will make me protective to a point of delirium. I will buy a gun, or at least a machete which I will be sharpening occasionally. And then I shall give it to her father who shall carry it around menacingly every time a boy visits. I shall be asking of his ill intentions through the grill door and I shall embarrass my daughter every chance I get. Because that's what mothers who love their daughters do.

But being the little pink peg in a field of blues, I also want a bus load of boys because which mother doesn't want unconditional love from her me. Many boys of my own who will protect my little girl when I am not there. Who will understand the lingo of the day and scare every idiotic boy who shows his ill mannered upbringing and makes lop sided advancements to my baby. Boys who will drive her to her wedding, pick her up from the airport (or the hospital when she doesn't want me to know), stand awkwardly around her awkwardly when she cries (or throws up) and threaten to kill anybody who hurts her. But especially, to teach her about life in ways I never could. A daughter who will have everything she could ever ask for. Who will feel protected and loved and provided for.

That daughter of mine shall be one heck of a lucky girl.