Potentash
  • Relationships
    • The Singlehood Series
    • Dating
    • Sex
    • Parenting
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Food + Beverage
    • Fashion
    • Interviews
  • Stories
    • The Singlehood Series
    • Fiction
    • Poetry
  • Skin + Beauty
    • Skin
      • Skincare
    • Hair
      • Haircare
  • Wellness
    • Physical Health
    • Emotional Wellness
    • Mental Wellness
    • Social Wellness
    • Spiritual Wellness
  • Business
    • Business Finance
    • Personal Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Investments
    • Personal Investments
  • Entertainment
    • Internet
    • Events
    • Music
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
Potentash
  • Relationships
    • The Singlehood Series
    • Dating
    • Sex
    • Parenting
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Food + Beverage
    • Fashion
    • Interviews
  • Stories
    • The Singlehood Series
    • Fiction
    • Poetry
  • Skin + Beauty
    • Skin
      • Skincare
    • Hair
      • Haircare
  • Wellness
    • Physical Health
    • Emotional Wellness
    • Mental Wellness
    • Social Wellness
    • Spiritual Wellness
  • Business
    • Business Finance
    • Personal Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Investments
    • Personal Investments
  • Entertainment
    • Internet
    • Events
    • Music
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
Potentash
No Result
View All Result
Throwback Thursdays: Memories Of Growing Up In A Kenyan Household

Throwback Thursdays: Memories Of Growing Up In A Kenyan Household

Elsie Ndonga by Elsie Ndonga
5 October 2017
in Lifestyle
Reading Time: 3 mins read
259 5
1
317
SHARES
1.8k
VIEWS
FacebookTwitterWhatsApp

Behind our undying love for our country and our common need to propel it to greater heights, is a culture that has bound Kenyans for decades. Amidst our different ways of life, we found a common culture that binds us. A collection of household memories and experiences that echo in our many group conversations. It is these tales that make us appreciate our heritage that much more. Though not conversant in all Kenyan households, there are some of these traditions that must have been in existance in one form or the other.

  1. The wall unit
Wall unit. Image from http://www.alhabibpaneldoors.com/interior-design/furniture-designs/lcd-tv-cabinet-designs

Standing smack at the front of the sitting room is where it stood. This huge piece of furniture that took up most of the space in the sitting room. It housed our analogue television sets and an analogue video system if you were lucky. The other compartments were filled with cutlery meant solely for guests. Those utensils would gather dust until you had visitors to use them. The commoners of the household were not deemed worthy to use them.

  1. ‘Sunday best’ Outfit

Somewhere folded nicely in a drawer was an outfit set aside for special occasions. It was close to taboo to adorn it on an ordinary day- like the gods would strip you naked in broad daylight. This outfit made it to almost every single family photo. This is because back then, photos were only taken on special occasions and during family portrait pictures.

Image from https://mumsvillage.com/lifestyle_post/sonia-5-ways-save-money/
  1. Family photographs

Speaking of photographs, there were days specifically set aside for family photo sessions. Makeup artists were unheard of. All you needed was a clean set of clothes and neatly combed hair. The family would then head to the photo studio and have numerous photographs taken at a go. They would then proceed to frame them and hang them on the sitting room walls. Those photographs represented the members of the family- a sign that you belonged. Missing in these photos could have led one to believe that you were not an accepted member of that household.

  1. Crotchet furniture dressers

Remember the hours your mother spent knitting these little furniture dressers? They would all be uniformly stitched and laid on most if not all pieces of furniture in the house. It was basic home décor. Their colours were meticulously picked out to match the colour scheme of the house. The seats seemed empty without them like something was missing.

  1. The ‘cane’

In my experience, committing crimes made me contemplate running away. The thought of the beating that awaited me at homemade spending life on the streets stupidly look enticing. Beatings were such an inbred culture of some houses, that it had its own rules and regulations- a cane constitution. There were strokes for each level of mistakes. In our household, there was an unwritten rule that pertained to my mother’s anger. If you pissed her off hard enough, the cane would be the closest thing she could grab. She would then go ahead and beat the mistake out of you like a bean bag.

We have outgrown many if not all of these traditions. As humorous as they seem now, they are the cornerstone of many of our fond memories. In a couple of years from now, our children will look at the things we do now and probably criticize and laugh at our backward ways. But for us those memories keep us going, and make us laugh especially when we open the family albums.

Featured image via www.afkinsider.com.

Memories Of Growing Up In A Rural Home Where Our TV Was Powered By Chloride Exide

Share127Tweet79SendShare22Pin29
Previous Post

Man Around Nairobi: Tim Riungu

Next Post

Four Points Best Brew Trail Nairobi: Four Pils Beer, Food & An Unforgettable Experience

Elsie Ndonga

Elsie Ndonga

The power of the written word fascinates me. It abides- cannot be forgotten. I write in the hopes that I can document the stories of everyone I meet and everything that I see.

Next Post
Four Points Best Brew Trail Nairobi: Four Pils Beer, Food & An Unforgettable Experience

Four Points Best Brew Trail Nairobi: Four Pils Beer, Food & An Unforgettable Experience

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

Teachers’ Notice Board Kenya – How Sam Mwaniki Created A Community Of Close To Half A Million Teachers On Facebook

Teachers’ Notice Board Kenya – How Sam Mwaniki Created A Community Of Close To Half A Million Teachers On Facebook

13 October 2021
609
Lonely Eyes Book Cover

Lonely Eyes Part 9: She Never Thought She Would Be One Of Those Women

7 October 2022
143

Popular Stories

  • Black man holding umbrella over him and woman

    Enemies To Lovers: A Storm Made Her Seek Shelter At The Neighbour’s House She Hated

    290 shares
    Share 116 Tweet 72
  • They Had A Bad Breakup. When They Met 3 Years Later, She Was In A Jail Cell

    267 shares
    Share 106 Tweet 67
  • The Singlehood Series: I Messed Up By Cheating On The Love Of My Life, And 2 Years Later I Am Still Regretting That Decision 

    300 shares
    Share 120 Tweet 75
  • Kenyan Musician J. S. Ondara Nominated For A Grammy Award For His Album Tales Of America

    23 shares
    Share 9 Tweet 6
  • The Singlehood Series: I’ve Been Secretly Seeing My Ex For Years

    121 shares
    Share 48 Tweet 30

Potentash Blog

Potentash is an award-winning lifestyle blog. We publish lifestyle content that intersects with health, women, beauty, travel, business, relationships, finances and entertainment.

Explore

  • The Singlehood Series
  • From Stairs To Ramps
  • Man Around Nairobi
  • Pearls And Heels
  • Personal Finance
  • Food + Beverage
  • Editor’s Pick
  • Reviews

Get the Potentash Newsletter

  • Newsletter Archive
  • Subscribe
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2023. Potentash, In Partnership with Decima

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Linked In
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
  • Relationships
    • The Singlehood Series
    • Dating
    • Sex
    • Parenting
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Food + Beverage
    • Fashion
    • Interviews
  • Stories
    • The Singlehood Series
    • Fiction
    • Poetry
  • Skin + Beauty
    • Skin
      • Skincare
    • Hair
      • Haircare
  • Wellness
    • Physical Health
    • Emotional Wellness
    • Mental Wellness
    • Social Wellness
    • Spiritual Wellness
  • Business
    • Business Finance
    • Personal Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Investments
    • Personal Investments
  • Entertainment
    • Internet
    • Events
    • Music
    • Books

Copyright © 2023. Potentash, In Partnership with Decima