I’m from a prestigious family that is connected to the soil of the land, and there are some traits in the children from the clan that can be traced to some of the family members, so when a child starts acting out of character, he or she will be asked, “Whose child are you?” Jokingly.
A trait, as related to genetics, is a specific characteristic of an individual. Traits can be determined by genes, environmental factors, or a combination of both. Traits can be qualitative (such as eye colour) or quantitative (such as height or blood pressure).
A given trait is part of an individual’s overall phenotype. So apart from the face I got from my parents, eyes, genes, and other hardware traits (traits that can be seen), I’ll be telling about some other traits I got from my parents, which are software traits (traits that can’t be seen).
Trait from my Dad
One of the traits I got from my dad is his good sense of humour. When I was growing up as a kid, anytime my dad was home, he always told us stories and made jokes just to make us laugh. I can hardly remember any of his jokes, but I can never forget the way I and my siblings laugh every time. Even when his friends are around, I always see them laugh and wonder what is making them laugh. Now, it is not surprising that I’m the comedian in my group of friends. Everything I say makes them laugh. I don’t even know how I do it, but I always put a smile on their face. This has helped me make friends and keep good people by my side. I was able to use this trait to create connections with people who I never imagined I would be friends with.
Also, the trait of telling stories without thinking too much—he can tell a story from an object or an event happening around him—has been a blessing to me on the hive. I don’t need to crack my brains before coming up with a story for any prompt proposed to me. I see the topic, and the idea drops in like magic.
Traits from My Mom
Since I was the cameraman on that day, I couldn’t get a picture of my mom.
My mom is very hardworking, and her hygiene level is like that of Mount Everest. She’s very coordinated and always dishes out instructions on what to do every time we wake up in the morning. “You, wash the plate, Ife, go and sweep the front yard, Itunu, put rice on fire, and make sure you take stew out of the fridge on time, shola, my lastborn, go back to sleep and relax while your elder ones do the chores.” Yeah, something like that.
Without even realising it, I was like this when she wasn't at home or when there was a project going on at work. Someone once challenged me, saying, “You act like you’re the boss.” Well, I’m not the boss; I’m only giving out roles so we can get our work done on time.
This trait has made it easy for people to work with me; everyone always wants me in their team when it concerns teamwork. This is during my school day. “Who would be the group leader?” Everyone would point to Fash. I never for once deny the role; I took it, dish out instructions, and everything will work out well.