Over and over again, I kept wondering how our parents came about some of these myths and how we innocently believed it till we come of age. I was told lots of myth especially by my mom and few of my neighbors, but then most of the times we were told these stories was to correct us when deviating from the right part.
One of such myth that influenced my life was never to eat all the food from the pot rather we should leave some leftover.🍯 Back then as kids my siblings and I were foodies and you can imagine growing up with five male and me the only female child there was never any leftover food in the pot even after my mom dished out dinner for us. We were so fond of eating that whenever we see food we just want to eat no matter the time we ate. For me, my neighbors nicknamed me Agric Chicken 🐔 because you always see me chewing my mouth every now and then and they be like don't you rest of eating food? How can I get tired of eating when there is food? Me answering their question with question. 🤣
Honestly it was not so good because I remember one evening my mom just dished out our dinner for us at about 7:00pm before she retired to bed but my siblings and I were watching the movies so we didn't sleep not until we checked the time it was past 9:30pm. We went to check the pot and realized there was still some rice so we devoured it. Unfortunately for us, that too without our knowledge daddy's cousin was coming to the house and it happened he arrived late and it was already 10:00pm. OMG!! When he arrived and my mum wanted to serve him the remaining rice, there was no food again in the pot. That night was terrible for myself and siblings but glad my uncle was there to save us. 😰
Not long after that incident my mom told us a story of a ghost who normally visits people houses to eat food at night and whenever he appears and there isn't any food he starts to feed on the children. We were so scared and don't want any ghost to feed on us and to worsen the whole stuff I heard my neighbor telling her children same story my mom had told us about the hungry ghost so I had no choice than to believe. No matter what, my self and siblings never ever touch the leftover food in the pot and that was how we were always satisfied with what my mom gave us. I love my siblings and they love me too so we don't want the hungry ghost to come eat any of us.
Despite the fact after growing up and realizing it was all a lie, one thing for sure is that this myth influenced my life greatly. No late night eating and there is always something for visitors to eat when they come visiting.