Mama's Tenants | Episode 5 | Mummy Oluchi’s Room of Selfcare

Mama’s Tenants
Episode 5: Mummy Oluchi’s Room of Selfcare
The quarrel started with toothpaste.


“Mummy Oluchi, why is the toothpaste always squeezed from the middle?” her husband, Chike, barked that morning.


“And is that why you left your towel on the bed again?” she snapped back, hands on hips.


Their 7-year-old son peeped from behind the curtain like a football fan watching a tense penalty shootout.


Later, when the kids had gone to school and the house was finally quiet, Mummy Oluchi slumped into the parlour chair.


She loved Chike. She really did. But four children, one overworked husband, and an unending to-do list had turned their once passionate marriage into a never-ending negotiation of chores, children, and complaints.


That afternoon, her landlord, Mama, knocked softly on her door, carrying a tray of warm jollof rice.
“I made extra. You’ve not eaten today, have you?”


Mummy Oluchi accepted the tray with a weary smile. “You always know. Didn’t feel like eating after cooking.”


Mama sat beside her.
“You look tired.”


“I’m beyond tired, Mama. I’m angry. And I don’t even know why half the time.”


Mama nodded knowingly. “Do you have your own space?”


“My own what?”


“Room. Space. Place where you can just be Mummy Oluchi, not ‘mummy’, not ‘wife’, not ‘cook’, not ‘peacekeeper’. Just you.”


She blinked. “No.”


“Hmm,” Mama said. “That’s part of the problem. When a woman forgets herself, everything starts to irritate her.”


Mama pointed to the back of the compound. “That old store room, clean it. Set up a chair. A table. Keep your journal there. Read your Bible. Cut your nails. Drink tea. Cry if you want. Think. Pray. Be you.”


Mummy Oluchi sighed. “Mama, I don’t even know who I am anymore.”


“That’s why you need the room,” Mama said. “Not to run away from them but to remember yourself.”


The next day, Mummy Oluchi cleaned out the room. She placed a stool by the window. A small mat on the floor. She put a mirror there, and for the first time in months, she plaited her own hair slowly, watching herself.


That evening, she didn’t snap when Chike forgot to rinse the plates.


Instead, she said softly, “You forgot the plates again, love.”


And when he mumbled an apology, she smiled. Not sarcastically. Genuinely.


He looked surprised.


Later that night, he came to her, wrapped his arms around her and said, “I miss us.”


Her eyes watered.
So did his.

LESSON:
A woman must have inner happiness before she can offer warmth to others. Self-care is not selfish, it’s preparation for peace.

Watch out for the next Episodes of Mama’s Tenants.

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