The Journal Entries of Jackson Milleran

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7

MY ROOM 10:00am

Hi,

I’m Milleran and I would love to tell you about myself but I’d rather not right now cause it’s kinda a long story and I think I’ll just skip my own introduction for now, at least. Besides, for as long as...whenever, I think this is going to be my journal or diary, log book or whatever you prefer to call it-no, I just remembered it’s mine so it’s a journal. I’d say diary and no offence to other girls out there but it’s too much of a girly term for me. So, you’re mine to use or whatever and that means you’re bound to know stuff about me as the days, weeks and months go by, that is, if you’re willing to stick around to find out what my future holds. I bet you will stick around cause not to brag or anything but my life is pretty interesting and it’s about to get even more interesting with me giving you weekly updates in a very overdramatic way cause that’s just how I am- overdramatic but good. Let’s be honest, being dramatic isn’t bad unless it comes with being mean and I’m just in between *smiley face* The past years of my life have been pretty interesting and adventurous-too bad I can’t recall enough details to tell you all about it-and I hope the same goes for this year and the years to come because honestly, my life not all that interesting-contradictory, I know. I mean whatever is interesting that happens in a twelve-year-old girl’s life?

Anyway, it’s the first week of the year and also the weirdest for me. I’m really hoping this week doesn’t jinx the rest of the year because the past few days have not exactly been...normal. Simply put, they’ve been weird and unusual which is basically the same thing but right now vocabulary ain’t my problem. For starters, the first day of the year was a Sunday. A...Sunday! I’m very much used to and comfortable doing absolutely NOTHING on the first of the year asides from the usual chores and helping out in the kitchen and I would love to keep the tradition going but I’m NOT the one who plans and writes the calendar! Plus, I’ve not got the guts to tell my parents that I do not want to go to church on the first day of the year for a lot of obvious reasons. Not that I hate going to church, I actually love it but I’d rather spend the first day of the year doing absolutely NOTHING while at home-which we all know is completely impossible considering the chores I’m subjected *sighs*. And I’d like to keep my eyes unscarred by the not-so-pretty looking “make-up” on the faces of some women in the church.

Okay, here goes...

As a Nigerian Christian, Sunday is a major deal, like it’s a really HUGE deal. It’s an UNSPOKEN rule in my house when it comes to going to church on Sundays. Other programmes hold at the church we attend on weekdays but we get out of those thanks to school except on breaks and holidays-but if it’s Sunday, there’s no escaping church. Like, not a chance in the world. And I don’t think I’ve tried cause I have siblings who share the same view towards church that I do so, believe me when I say that we have come up with various stories, excuses and escape plans. All of these have only worked when either of our parents is not feeling too well and that means they can’t even move or something cause if they could so much as walk...we’re seeing the pastor and everyone in the church in the next hour.

It’s normal in my family for everyone to be up early on Sundays by 6 or 7am to get ready for church. But my mum had other plans for the very special New Year’s Day that just so happened to fall on a Sunday because I was up at 4:30am and I never woke up at that time! Not even when I have tests or exams-then I wake up at 5. Also, I am not a morning person but at the same time, I am, because I do not like to be woken up from sleep and early in the morning but I get up early if I have something to do like chores or tv or get ready for school. I know it’s complicated and I have a weird lifestyle. And once I’m awake, I don’t fall asleep until I’ve done something that makes me feel tired and in need of rest. I think that goes for everyone in my family.

I think I’m actually a morning person cause I only wake up at 10am on Saturdays and that’s not late considering that on Fridays, my siblings and I stay up late watching movies. And even with that I still get up early enough the next day cause I’ve got chores to do. So, my point is, since we leave the house for the church at 8 or 9 every morning on Sundays, I can get up at 6 or 7 and still get everything done unless my mum decides to cook before we leave. This is what she did this morning and we didn’t have breakfast because according to her and I quote, “We’ll be late. There’s no time to eat!” But there was time to cook. I wanted to scream but I dared not. Did I mention that my mum literally went all out, cooking very early that morning?!-The reason I was up at 4:30am on the first day of the year. Yay, life!

The fact that the first day of the year was a Sunday does not beat last year’s Christmas day which also happened to be on a Sunday!-which means, we spent hours and practically the whole day in church. Again, it’s not like I have anything against church, it’s just...it was Christmas and we were supposed to be at home. To top it off, the last day of the year was AGAIN spent in church!-well, the night of it. There’s a cross-over programme which is basically a night vigil. It’s like a church service but at night when one should literally be asleep. Hey, but what better way to spend your night than by praying?! Not like we had a choice in the matter, the good thing was the vigil ended an hour into the new year cause everyone had to be in church in the morning which was just hours away. Another good thing was the children's celebration-actually the teenagers' celebration where we run outside and celebrate Christmas and New Year with fireworks called bangers and knockouts.

Bangers are like smaller or timer versions of fireworks. We call them bangers cause they explode with, duh, a loud bang sound. They can be held or thrown or placed on the ground to go off. Whoever holds a banger while it goes off is considered a boss and it’s something everyone wants to try as soon as they get over their fear of getting hurt if they make a mistake in the process. It takes some level of courage to do it. My sister and I are almost pros. We play with bangers a lot, even at school sometimes. Though it’s gotten us in trouble, the few hours of kneeling or any other form of punishment are worth the fun and enjoyment of playing bangers and another thing called lamole. Not sure I got the spelling right but a lamole is a tiny ball containing sand-like particles or powder that’s wrapped in white paper. And when it hits a hard surface like the ground or a wall it makes a startling sound. It’s safe and kids prefer it to bangers for obvious reasons.

In summary...this year for me started off weird cause every New Year:

1-My family and I celebrate at home and most times go out.

2-I do not go to Church because it usually falls on a weekday and everyone is usually indoors or out having fun.

3-I always have breakfast.

4-I switch chores-this happens only once a year.

5-I do not wake up by 4:30am.

6-I wear cool clothes-jeans, a top with a matching sweater or jacket and sneakers with matching socks.

7-I eat whatever I want-well, that depends on whatever is in store.

8-I watch Tv, play and have fun.

9-I go to bed whenever I want.

But this year, it was different. Why?

1-I woke up early to get ready for church. Okay, I have nothing against going to church. It just felt odd for some unexplainable reason.

2-I didn't eat all thanks to my brothers. You know it has become like a thing for them now. And it is really annoying. I always end up skipping breakfast because they can never hurry up. It's usually girls who take all the time in the world to get ready. I don't except when I want to. Heck! I'm twelve I don't do makeup and I don't think I'll ever for past mascara and lip gloss-I have natural bright pink lips. So, I'm cool. My brothers just happen to be too lazy to get their butts off their beds and into the bathroom. And who gets blamed for this and scolded? I do. And I had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

In case you are wondering I am the second child and the second girl. I have an older sister, SomSom who's 1 year, 11 months, 2 weeks and 2 days older than I am-I counted. I have two younger brothers. The one after me is Davey and I am 2 years, 1 month and 27 days older than he is. Following Davey after 2 years and 5 months is Michaelangelo. Yeah, my parents have great taste in names.

3-I did all my chores and some of my sister's. Yup, that has become a daily thing which I do not like obviously. They are here chores for a reason and I have mine to buy myself with so 'bestowing' me with her chores is not a 'grand favour' as she called it but punishment! I'd rather skip fast till 3pm!

4-I didn't wear cool clothes-straight skirts actually skirts, in general, are not my thing, I only happen to own as many as I do because my mum gets them and girls, ladies, women, the female gender is not to wear trousers to church. Just so you know, I had to tie a turban on my head-and I do not like turbans or scarves either, I'm more of visors, hoodies, beanies, bandanas, hair bands- to go with my outfit. Turbans happen to be tight and they give me a headache so I do not like them.

5-I didn't watch Tv, play or have fun. I don't know but for some reason everywhere and everyone was just there being all ordinary like it was just another Sunday and not the freakin 1st of January aka New Year's Day. Other than the happy new year wishes everyone exchanged, that was just it- nothing else, nada! I barely had time to even gist or talk to the people my age who are not my friends but something close. I don't even blame everyone for being sorta...off, we had just ended the 21 days vigil early that morning. It's this thing done in my church, like a tradition. From the night of the 11th of December to the first hours of the new year, we hold a special vigil everyday-actually night. It's actually fun cause unlike other vigils where we have to stay up till the next morning, we end the vigil latest 3am and either go home, go to sleep or don't go to sleep but be quiet.

The vigils are always very fun because in December we have a Family harvest on the last Sunday of the month and on the 24th marks The Children's Funfair where the children have fun and we get to perform. By 'we' I mean the dancers. Yes, as funny as it sounds and I am laughing right now-I dance. I happen to be a part of our small dance group mostly because my sister and I come up with the choreography and also chose the song we are dancing to. The group consists of 'my friends', my siblings and I. My sister is in charge of course so, she doesn't dance with us mainly because she feels she's too old to be part of us. After all, we are all two years and above younger than she is. Basically, she is the only kid her age in our church. We are sometimes 5, 6 or 7 depending on the children available for practice and dance rehearsals which are held on Saturdays in places of our choice.

6-I went to bed early by 8pm. 8 freakin pm! I was in bed?! That's so not me. I'm usually in bed by 12am but of course, today was an exception.

7-I had breakfast when we got back from church. In other words, we had brunch.

8-I made sure I had a full late lunch after brunch and also snacks for compensation after.

9-I had dinner-yep, don't mess with my dinner cause it's the last time I eat before the next 12 or so hours.

10-We celebrated in the evening. In the evening?! The freakin evening?! *huff*

Anyway, unlike last year’s Christmas, the last day of the year and the first of the year which left me wondering “Who the heck plans the calendar?” the days that followed were actually fun. My siblings and I visited the twins- a boy and a girl who are kids of a family friend. They’re like a year plus and super adorable. They’ve got me wrapped around their tiny fingers and I adore them so much! I enjoy feeding them even though it gets messy at times and playing dress up with them too. The one thing I don’t enjoy is cleaning up after them and changing diapers but I still do it cause they are irresistible-the twins, not their messes. As they’re Yoruba, the boy goes by Taiye and the girl, Kehinde but we Chis decided to give them unique names we’ll call them by. Taiye is the foodie of the two and when he’s not eating or sleeping, he’s trying to get non-edibles like toys into his mouth. It’s funny cause one time he tried to eat his toy car and he cried when it didn’t fit in his mouth. While Kehinde spends her time playing or watching cartoons, I’m not so sure she understands anything.

Moving on, one of the days, our whole family took a trip to the beach located on the island of Lagos. The hours spent at the beach were fun but early that morning, getting ready was far from fun. Stressful and a bit annoying was more like it. You see, my mum prefers to cook as we have foodies in the family and they are my dad, my older sister and my younger brothers. I don’t each much and my mum doesn’t too. So, while we girls spent time in the kitchen, the boys helped my dad load the car with beach essentials. On our way, we stopped at a famous mall to buy stuff. As much as I love shopping, I also don’t cause I don’t always get what I want. I mean a kid my age would probably go nuts if he/she gets to shop for whatever they want but I don’t unless it’s stuff like school essentials. If not whatever I want that I’m obviously not getting goes on my imaginary waiting list or in the category my parents like to call “next time”-it’s pretty famous and is code for definitely not. Plus, I have three siblings, if I get what I want, they’d want theirs too and that could lead to chaos. We do get a say in what snacks we buy mostly pastries and chocolate and the mall we were at had the best kind of meat pies and jam-filled doughnuts. We also got some school materials.

Speaking of school, I just checked the calendar and it turns out my sister wasn’t kidding when she said school resumes in two days. Two days?! I haven’t rested enough! Great. I just remembered that tomorrow is Sunday and that means I have to go pick a suitable outfit and that may take hours if my mum disapproves of every outfit I choose until she finally picks one for me *sighs* I’d love to rant more about school and outfits but I have to go now.

Laters…………………………………………!

QUESTION OF THE ENRTY (QOTE)

What’s your new year tradition?