The Birth of a Child - Family Traditions?
I am looking for anecdotes about family behavior and traditions around the birth of a child.
When a child is born in your family, what happens next?
How long is it before (nearby) family typically meets the newborn child?
Is it traditional for family members who live nearby to give some kind of help to the new parents - babysitting older children, bringing food, running errands, delivering presents?
Do you know of any specific traditions?
If you don’t really have traditions per se, share something that you really appreciated, or that you wished would have happened but didn’t.
Techorati Tags: birth of a child | family | family rituals | traditions
Internal Tags: birth of a child | family | family rituals | traditions
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Sara Says:
My thoughts on this subject (lol, I’m a mom of 4). Visit asap, a short but enthusiastic visit. Mom is proud as can be and enjoys the ooohs and ahhhs over her beautiful baby. First days home, anything one does to help out is great, mom is still getting strength back. A real sweetheart brought dinner over my first day home with one. I loved it.
Posted on January 30th, 2007 at 6:21 am
Tony Says:
When my wife and I had our kids, the entire family within two hours drive descended upon the hospital and visited for hours (both my family and hers).
When kid no.2 came along, my mother-in-law kept our older daughter for a couple of days to help us get settled in at home. It was very helpful.
I agree with Sara that quick visits are much better, because after a while the parents feel less like new parents and more like (exhausted) party hosts. Get in, ooh and ahh, and get out.
Posted on January 30th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Rosei Says:
Here we visit a newborn child when both mother and he/she leave the hospital. As soon as possible and bring the mother flowers and some baby stuff to the child. Usually, grandparents stay at home to give some help with the house, to cook and receive visitors. As the father doesn´t get work break for his newborn child, mother and baby have the grandparents´help most of the time. Working mothers has a 4 months break from work. If the mother works for a state instituition, she has now a 6 months break from work to care of her newborn.
Posted on January 31st, 2007 at 11:41 am
Mary Says:
Well, as a Mother of two, Aunt of 10 (5 boys & 5 girls) and Great Aunt of 3(all girls) - I have ALOT to say! Most of the baby traditions in my family started with “I’m pregnant, we are getting married” LOL! (it was the 70’s mostly) I first became an Aunt 29 years ago! (WOW) I was 14. and as soon as visiting hours started at Sturdy (things were really different back then) we ran up there. My family always had a baby shower about a month before the baby was born if it was your first baby - they were great! We would rent a hall (Like the local Knights of Columbus or the American Legion) and spend the weeks leading up to it making favors by hand (always including those “special” jordan almonds!) wrapped up with pink and blue tule! Back then, you did not know what you were having, it was a suprise, so we always bought alot of mint green sleepers for gifts! The day of the shower we would spend the morning decorating the hall with pink and blue crepe paper and putting out lots of finger sandwiches we had made the night before after a trip to Willow Tree Farms for chicken salad in those big buckets! Being a Catholic family, once the baby was born, we were not supposed to take it out of the house for a few weeks, until the baby could be baptized. Family could come to you, but the baby had to stay inside. My Mom had her own tradition, as soon as she got a call that someone was on the way to the hospital, she light her Novena candle ( a small votive candle she kept in front of her Mary statue) And I have to say, she had 12 healthy grandchilden! Since my Mom passed, I now have her Mary statue and I too, light a candle in front of it when I know someone is in labor, or flying in a plane, or having an operation etc! (she has not failed us yet!) I have to agree with the comments above about keeping visits short. From my own experience, when I had my first son, the day I came home I had a major crisis! Even though I was an Aunt 10 times over, the thought of taking one home to stay at the last minute panicked me! My husband and I were not home more than 5 minutes when I had one sister, then my brother in law and his girlfriend over. I had just had a c-section, was having some major post partum depression and had a meltdown! I was not in the mood to entertain a housefull of company! I just left them all sitting in the living room and went into the bathroom and cried for 20 minutes! Finally, my husband came looking for me, saw the state I was in and made everyone leave! (my hero). My second child was more low key! My mom came to the hospital with my husband and other son, and it was lovely to come home and have her there to take care of me! She was over alot then - she knew this was her last grandchild probably and she had a special bond with him. I have alot of wonderful memories around the new babies in our family, it is hard to believe that they are now so old! LOL I have seen them go from newborns to teens, to married women and men and mothers themselves! I feel blessed to have seen them on this journey and look forward to many more great-neices and nephews to come! (ps one more is due in June!)
Posted on February 4th, 2007 at 11:00 am