Children will always be children. As young as they may be, they are really wiser than their ages. The internet and modern technology has made them more exposed. Some years back, the level of awareness and exposure was not this strong.
The fear of spanking was the beginning of wisdom. A child was trained not only by his parents, but his/her teachers and the community. A child could read his mother’s body languages even without her speaking. Her eyes spoke more words than her voice. In fact, when a mother gives some signs, a child knows what to expect particularly if he/she has been misbehaving. This goes without saying in those days we( children of old) still played pranks. Of course, these came with severe punishments when found out.
The beauty of playing pranks was to never be discovered. Here are some pranks I think we played as children:
1.Pretending to be sick
In a bid to avoid school or that ‘wicked’ teacher, children would pretend to be sick just to stay home. It is much needed break to escape from not just from school but also homework. But trust our parents, they were quick to know whenever something fishy was brewing.
2. Pretending to be asleep
As children we were always restless but we had to give in to afternoon nap or bedtime. Whenever it was time for sleeping, we dare not do otherwise. However, when the sleep does not come, we got involved in other activities in our room out of the earshot of our parents. Once we hear footsteps, we pretend to be asleep.
3. Pretending to be reading
This is usually when our dad’s car pulls over. We would arrange the sitting room that we have scattered while playing. He would not notice that the house was once disorganised. Rather he would be impressed that his children are neat and more importantly are’ reading their books’ instead of watching television.
4. Shedding false tears
Just to escape being spanked, we tend to shed false tears. However, if the gravity of the offence is grave , there was no way we would not get spanked in the end, tears or not.
5. Pretending to be smart
This usually happened in class. Whenever the teacher asks a question we don’t know the answer, we tag along. Instead putting your hands down and labelled an ‘olodo’, we raise our hands pretending to want to answer the question with the hope of not being called.