There was nothing more scary to me than marrying a Nigerian man; except meeting my Nigerian mother-in-law. I’ve seen all the Nollywood films where the mother-in-law despised the daughter-in-law and treated her with such hate and disdain. Don’t get me wrong, it can happen anywhere around the world. I personally had already decided that no matter how much I love that man, if me and his momma can’t get along, I’m not marrying that man. Thankfully, the situation with my MIL is a very positive one. Let me tell you the story of how we met.
Obi actually arranged for me to stay at his mom’s place while I was in Nigeria. It was very nerve wracking for me but I also felt it was the perfect opportunity to know for sure if this was a family I could marry in to. So when I got to his parents house, they welcomed me so warmly. There were flowers for me on the bed (which I love) and mommy was ready to pamper me. She really took her time to get to know me and I wanted to make sure I was myself. I didn’t want to present myself as something I wasn’t. One thing Obi and I are very clear on is the fact that the culture of the Kingdom reigns in our home not any earthly culture. So I intentionally didn’t do the things that I knew to do. I just hugged her. And we’ve been loving ourselves like that since.
My MIL has always allowed me to just be my beautiful self. There are few things we disagreed on but we just agree to disagree and its all love between us. My personal insecurity, if I can call it that, is my lack of skill in the kitchen. I don’t cook often so I’ve never had the opportunity to “improve with time and practice.” So anytime she brought it up.. and she brought it up a lot… I just brushed it off. I think she eventually understood. Every now and again when I cook something she will ask to have some and then she always hypes me up. She’s my personal cheerleader.
She is also my biggest support. When I first moved to Nigeria, I spoke to her everyday. She helped me to stay sane as I was trying to understand her son. And she always takes my side!! In fact, the whole family will be mad at him because as mummy says, “I’m the baby of the family.”
Watching clips like the one above make me thank God everyday for my in-laws. My father-in-law and siblings-in-law are just the best and I couldn’t have made it this far in Lagos, Nigeria without them!
I love you mummy!!!
