Unforgettable Celebration Welcoming a New Baby with Joy and Generosity

It was a delightful, exciting, and fun-filled moment a few days ago when one of my colleagues at work celebrated the naming ceremony of her daughter, and as one big family, the entire staff at my place of work decided to grace the occasion with a bereavement gift to honor her as well as properly welcome the child into the world.

The naming ceremony should have been held a month ago when she gave birth to the child, but due to unforeseen circumstances relating to the child's wellbeing, she had to remain at the hospital for proper treatment and monitoring by the doctors. Fortunately, after almost a month, the baby was discharged from the hospital perfectly hale and hearty, which was good news not just to her parents but to our colleagues and well-wishers as well.

When the date of the naming ceremony was fixed, as it's the tradition of us Nigerians, we, the colleagues of the mother, had a meeting and deliberated on what we could give to the mother as a collective gift from her colleagues. There were many suggestions, but at the end of the day we ended up resolving to contribute a certain amount, and the amount gotten was used to purchase some amazing baby gear, such as a walker, clothing, and toys.

At the location of the event, it was raining people as the hall was literally filled up. That's true and shows how happy people are with the family and how good a person they are as well. I, for one, am a close friend of the mother, and I can attest to her accompanying acts of selflessness and her being a cheerful giver who's fun to be around.

There were a lot of varieties of food and drinks to choose from, and everyone ate to their satisfaction. There were foods like fried rice, popular jolly rice, porridge, and local dishes like pounded yam, amala, and several others, to mention but a few. For me, I went for the local dish simply known as amala. I've been eating rice for the past few weeks, and I guess that event was the perfect place to taste something different.

Here I get to carry the baby, and it's surprising how calm she is in my hands, unlike how she cries when others other than her mother carry her. That even warranted a silly joke among our colleagues, but then we all laughed it off. I just joked about how I took a picture with her mother a few months ago while she was still pregnant, and probably now that the baby is born, she still recognizes me as one of her mother's close friends, which probably explains why she didn't cry but stayed comfortably in my hands till she slept off.

That aside, it was an amazing moment that was filled with joy and happiness for both the parents and us, the well-wishers. The baby was named and prayed for by the pastor anchoring the event, and then we all presented our gifts to the parents, ate, danced, and made merry before saying farewell to them.

That's about all on how I and my colleagues at work graced the naming ceremony of one of our staff members who's celebrating her child's naming ceremony as it's the custom of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. I had a great time, and I am sure others did too.

Thanks so much for staying with me this far. Have a fulfilling day ahead.