December 18, 2003
Hair
I've been moaning over Alan's hair for weeks now. Doug doesn't want me to cut it but I see my boy growing a mullet. A mullet! Of all things!
However, since Doug simply loves Alan's blonde mane, I'm not touching it. Yet. (OK, so I trimmed the bits of hair he scorched while trying to blow out a candle. But that's all.)
Yesterday, Doug got support from unexpected quarters: We heard about a Romanian custom that says not to cut a boy's hair until he's 2 years old.
The tradition has it that on his second birthday, a little boy's hair gets combed up into a sort of ponytail on top of his head and is bound with a piece of ribbon. Family and friends gather for a big party, in the course of which the little boy is presented with a tray full of symbolic little trinkets -- something gold, something silver, a coin, a pair of scissors, etc. He gets to pick one piece and whatever he picks will tell his future -- he's going to be rich, a tailor, very lucky... Then, the godmother ritually cuts off that little sprig of hair. The party members cheer, wish him a long and good life, and then get full on cake and palinka. What a birthday party!
The girls are treated differently, btw. Their hair is cut on their first birthday, also by the godmother, but since the hair is usually a lot shorter, the ponytail variant doesn't work so well. So the hair gets cut in the sign of a cross: back, front, right, left sides.
Yes, attentive reader. First right, then left. The sign of the cross is reverted in Romania. But that's a story for another time.
In any case, Alan's second birthday is in March. Watch this space.
Posted by claudia at December 18, 2003 11:23 AMThe two-year-old's first haircut is traditional in the Phillipines and parts of China, as well.
In Korea, we are told, sons are totally pampered and indulged up to 2nd birthday, at which point the hammer suddenly drops and very rigorous discipline applies. Major shock to a toddler's sense of the world, I'm sure. But I'm not sure if this shock is paired with the "trauma" of a haircut at the same birthday celebration.
In the U.S. it seems to be karma (not tradition or ritual, just a cultural "thing") that kids of roughly this age get hold of scissors and "un"style their own hair. Reverse Mohawks, often, right up the crest.
Posted by: Pouncer at December 18, 2003 05:26 PMActually, I think you are talking about " taierea motului" custom in Romania which usually happen when the baby is around 1 year. This custom si something like that:
The god parents, the parents and some relatives meet at the childs house and put some objects on the table in from of the child. (boy)
Then they ask the child to choose from those objects (3 times I think) and depending on what he is choosing they try to find out about his future. Each object has a meaning: money (he will be rich), book (he will enjoy studying) .. etc.
In the same day they will cut a piece of hair from him and keep it safe for a long time.
More details after my nephew will have this party :)
Hm.
D: He's going, he's going... he's going for the juggling ball! Yes!
C: No, he is not. [removes juggling ball from table]
A: [picks up toy car on floor instead] Voom!
Carlos: snort
Pouncer: interesting! Especially the "hammer falls" insight. Revealing, ain't it?
Anca: I wrote down a description of our nanny's little boy's two-year-ceremony. It's authentic in respect to her family's way of celebrating this day. I gather that there might be differences as to when and how exactly this celebration is held. Romania, I'm sure, is not homogeneous.
Posted by: Claudia at December 18, 2003 08:10 PMIt does not remotely look like a mullet.
Honestly.
Doug M.