Christmas Season Struggles Every Nigerian Will Relate To

Merry Christmas! ‘Tis the season to be jolly with family and friends, but this season is not without its unique wahala.

It’s a beautiful time of the year, with mass migrations happening all over Nigeria, especially towards the East. These family gatherings of people from all over the world means that Christmas is a communal affair, and where there are plenty people, there’s plenty drama-and lots of chores.

I miss family road trips to the East.

We used to drive from Lagos to the Imo state every Christmas season.

There's no better way to see Nigeria and appreciate the beautiful, diversity we have been blessed with

😥

— Uche Agbai (@SenseiUche) December 20, 2019

This season also reminds me of all the stress and annoyance that came with the joy and new clothes while we were growing up. If you spend your Christmases with family, then you might or might not relate to these. Either way, these experiences mounded our Christmases growing up.

Shopping

Christmas shopping is unnecessarily stressful. Like every civil servant out there, my mother had to wait for salary day before doing Christmas shopping, so sometimes, the 19th or 20th of December would find us in the press of the crowd surfing Ogbete market in the sweltering sun. Who else would have to carry the six thousand different things bought except me? The worst thing is that we had so many things to buy before travelling to the village that we would go to the market on two consecutive days, sometimes three. The worst!!!

Cooking

Where do I even begin with this? The best thing about moving away from home is that I don't have to sweat in the kitchen for hours on end baking cakes, rolling dough for chin-chin and dodging hot oil from frying chicken.

Most Igbo men like to use the Christmas period to show that their wives can cook,nobody is doubting your wife’s ability but she deserves to enjoy the Christmas too.
Most of us grew up watching our moms live in the kitchen during this period as guests won’t stop coming.
Change it!

— Noble Igwe (@Nobsdaslushhkid) December 22, 2019

Of course, that means that my Christmas day may be spent in my bed watching Netflix, but I honestly call that a win. Slaving away in the kitchen while the boys go visit their friends and watch TV is not my idea of Christmas cheer.

I’m happy that this conversation about women cooking until they drop is being had right now on social media. There are so many businesses who have Christmas packages for this season and are willing to do the work while you relax, and that’s the vibe we’re going with dears.

Clean-up

Who remembers the nightmare of piles and piles of unwashed plates with half-eaten food? The highlight of being the oldest in the house is that I grew out of the dishwashing rotation early, but Christmas is no respecter of persons so it was all hands on deck. The only way to escape was just to...disappear for a few hours. Again, another labour that girls were supposed to take on, no questions asked.

For people who grew up having help to cook and clean so you could actually enjoy your holiday, y’all won at Christmas and that’s no lie.

Relatives

People are stressful, and Nigerian aunties and uncles have that in full measure. As children, being paraded in front of relatives we only see once a year used to be the worst thing. Everybody wants to know what you’re doing, when you did it, and what’s next in your life. Honestly, people who spent the holidays with just their nuclear families have got it good. At least everybody there knows what’s up.

We love the holidays, but I think it’s okay for us to love to hate it too. Don't forget to hold on to your Christmas cheer and make out time for yourself amid all the running around - and please outsource where you can!

What’s the worst thing about this season for you?