I may never be able to get rid of my addiction to tea

I have a long tea history and I am hoping you will stay till the end. Grandma tells us we are selective about food and that she doesn't blame us. According to her, dad(her son) was more selective when he was much younger. The story has it that he preferred spoon food all the time and lots of tea.

Dad still drinks tea and we all love tea. He can afford to drink tea everyday from Monday to Sunday.

We do not get to drink that much because mum always make breakfast for us before we head out to school. The narrative changes when it's Sunday. Every Sunday each of us have a cup of tea with bread or any baked product of our choice.

Tea brings my family together

My junior brother has taken from dad. He never want to eat soup, he always ask for tea. Dad calls him Abubakar(The name of the 11th president of my country..... President Abdulsalami Abubakar, full name). I don't know if this president liked tea more and that is why he calls my brother his name. I have to find out.

I often thought dad calls him Abubakar because he is picky. In a way, we imagine the life of a president to be easy and he can have anything he wants. All he needs to do is say it and it's done. So, dad refers to my brother as this president because of his choosy nature when it comes to food. Most especially because he asks for tea.

Grandma likes tea too. She always get milk and chocolate every morning and prepares breakfast for herself. She has had this routine for as long as I can remember.(since I was a child) . And she hasn't stopped.

My family loves tea very much. It's not because it's fast, we just enjoy the warmth it has over our throat every morning especially if it's cold weather.

I haven't seen grandpa take tea, I barely spend time with him(Grandma and him separated before we were born). I do know he loves custard and beans. Maybe, this is his version of tea.

Mum loves tea too. Even when she prepared a breakfast of rice and other cereals, she makes sure she has it with tea. She always has a cup of tea to accompany her morning and evening meals. She enjoys it. I have watched her live this way since I was a child too.

My sister is not left out of this tea addiction. She has a bag full of tea flavors. And she takes it with lots of biscuits. The only time she doesn't take tea is if she is running late for church service on a Sunday morning. She makes sure she makes up for it in the evening after service.

My friend doesn't like tea, but, she takes it because I do. She claims it's too light. I don't think I take tea for satisfaction (the way a plate of rice will do justice to your stomach). I take tea for the heat and warmth as I described above. My friend will rather go for custard, like my grandpa does instead of the tea but with bread.

My neighbors, one of them claim tea can satisfy him the way rice does. He said he can go for a long while without feeling hungry if he takes tea in the morning. He explained it doesn't matter if he uses bread or not. As long as the combination of milk and choco is right, then, it's right for his stomach.

My other neighbor, until recently, usually takes bread with Pepsi, it was our favorite combination in the compound. All of us is a fan of Pepsi and bread. Recently, he got bread and ask me to help boil water for him. When I got to his room, I found out, he had tins of milk and choco in his room too. These days, he has sacrificed his favorite combination of bread for tea.

I have my tin of milk and choco too. And I make sure I refill it every time it runs out. I have come to enjoy drinking tea and it turns into an addiction. I don't know if this is a positive and healthy addiction. My relationship with tea has come a long way.

There was a time I usually had milk and coffee chocolate every morning until someone said, it's going to make me lose weight. I was already in shape, I wanted to maintain weight not lose it. So I had to stop and concentrate on milk and choco.

I had been chubby once, and it was because I usually had milk with Choco every now and then. Most times hot, other times cold. The cold one had to go through the freezer. It's important. I love cold drinks so if I am having my tea without hot water, it has to be cold.

My sister likes cold tea too. She barely boils water for her tea.

Tea for us goes beyond the warmth and heat too. It's a family ritual, and we are always happy to know we are having tea for breakfast. It's a way to bring everyone to the table in unison of purpose (to enjoy the warmth).

If grandma still drinks tea at this age,then, I too may never get off this addiction.