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01 May 2010

I'm a tiger mama

“I’m a tiger Mama,” my three-year-old, Eliza says as she crawls on all fours around the kitchen. “I’m from Africa!”

“Would you like to go to Africa one day?” I ask her knowing that even to a three-year old the question sounds forced.

“I’m a tiger and I bite,” she says and crawls away to chase her little sister, the question of Africa a passing thought.

As my two tiny daughters crawl around the coffee table practicing their growls, I pull an atlas of the world out of a stack of books in the next room. I open it up to Africa and trace my finger around the shape of the continent. I can only imagine what places with names like Dakar or Nairobi smell like. I can only imagine the feel of my skin under the equitoral sun. I can only imagine these things because I have never been to Africa. [Read more]