Motherhood Archives | Mind of Malaka

These Are the Dangers of Removing Struggle From Your Child’s Life

Posted on March 12, 2019
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

Mothering comes in various stages of learning to unlearn to relearn. Isn’t that what the woke, young folks say these days? “We gotta learn to unlearn…” Whatever. As I type this I am sitting in a bar with a splitting headache. It’s * checks phone…

Conversations With My Daughter: Accepting Our Uncomfortable Reality

Posted on November 5, 2018
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

When I was at Hampton University doing my undergrad, I had classes with a student named Jemilla, an entity so powerful that at 18 she could only be described as more woman than girl. In the entirety of my (by then) very short life, I…

How We Condition Our Boys To See Themselves as Domestically Incompetent

Posted on October 22, 2018
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

“This video makes me feel lazy and messy and dumb.” Eh? Who is making my baby – only male offspring to jettison himself from my womb – feel ‘dumb’? As I whip around, I am confronted with the knot of muscles and knitted brows that…

Raising A Teen Is The Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done

Posted on September 6, 2018
by Malaka
with 8 Comments

Raising a teenager is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and that’s saying a lot – because I’ve had a pretty difficult life. From homelessness (my family had to live with relatives for a stint before ‘upgrading’ to a hotel – the same hotel where…

Exploited: The Day My Child Became the Face of African Poverty Porn

Posted on June 8, 2018
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

Sixteen years ago I used to run a satirical blog called Maizebreak.com. It is now defunct. I would write parodies of the real news, conjure crazy and unlikely stories and photoshop images for humorous effect. It was my African answer to The Onion, which I…

We’re Finally Getting Closer to Having Those Elusive ‘Happy Periods’

Posted on May 28, 2018
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

The 28th of May is Menstrual Hygiene Day! And you thought it was just another Monday. Surprise! Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day) is a global platform that brings together non-profits, government agencies, the private sector, the media and individuals to promote Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM).…

The Mercy of Teachers Who Embrace Failure

Posted on March 28, 2018
by Malaka
with 3 Comments

I often talk about the teachers who shaped both the writer and woman I am today. Not infrequently, I mention one teacher’s name with more regularity than any other. (Go to Door Number 5 to receive your prize if you smiled wryly and said, “Mr.…

Why Are Some Women Choosing Childbirth Over Marriage?

Posted on March 22, 2018
by Malaka
with 6 Comments

“There is no man more single than a married man in Joburg.” Joy FM host Naa Ashorkor Mensa-Doku wanted to know why modern women are choosing to have children outside of the confines of traditional marriage and there was no shortage of men waiting…

I Like to Imagine My Children’s Faces When They Discover All Their Teeth

Posted on March 14, 2018
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

My two oldest children are 13 and 11 years old, which means that they are just about done losing teeth. This is a good thing, because there are few things creepier than tiptoeing into a pre-teens room in the dead of night, swathed only in…

The Key To Great Parenting Is Simple. Have Some Sympathy.

Posted on March 8, 2018
by Malaka
with 3 Comments

Sympathy noun Understanding between people; common feeling It doesn’t matter if your child is a few days old or well into their fifties; a parent is most likely to assess an unfamiliar scenario with one uppermost question: “Am I responding to this situation the right…

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