Nigerian parents and the mystery of the 'small small' portion

My mother will call me on WhatsApp video and ask, 'Bose, how you dey? You don eat?' I say yes, I cooked. She will then ask, 'Wetin you cook?' I say rice and stew. She will nod, pause, then say, 'Small small. Make sure you eat small small.'

I am 43 years old. I have been eating 'small small' since I was 12. When I was in secondary school, 'small small' meant half a plate of rice. When I was pregnant with my first child, 'small small' meant one piece of meat. Now, as a nurse in London working 12-hour shifts, 'small small' still means I should not finish the pot of jollof I made on Sunday. I asked her one day, 'Mummy, who is going to eat the rest?' She just said, 'You never know who will visit.'

I tell you, Nigerian parents are the only people on earth who prepare enough food for a village but will tell you to eat 'small small' as if famine is around the corner. Meanwhile, my British husband will ask me, 'Why are you plating so much?' and I will look at him like he has insulted my ancestors. In our house, we do not measure food. We measure love. And love is a full plate, abeg. Anyway, I have started telling my own children to eat 'small small' now. They just roll their eyes and say, 'Mum, that's not a thing.' But it is a thing. It is the Nigerian thing. When will I stop hearing that voice in my head?