120 days old? Here's your cookie necklace
On Wednesday Anna turned 4 months old. And when a baby turns four months old there's a Chinese custom that goes something like this:
1. Make a cookie necklace by taking a piece of string and finding donut-shaped cookies. If such cookies cannot be found, use Digestive cookies and poke holes in them (warning, high defect rate).
2. Place cookie necklace over head of 4-month old baby.
3. Take aforementioned baby to relatives. Relatives will then, a. break off a cookie, b. with cookie halves, gently swipe the baby's cheeks, c. say poetic words or proverbs, d. eat cookie halves.
I read nowadays this custom is rarely practiced in Taiwan. I remember asking Taiwanese friends and co-workers about this custom when Griffon turned 4 months old, but they had no idea what I was talking about.
When asked about the reason behind the custom, was told had something to do with preventing the baby from drooling too much. I guess if one thinks about it, this is the age about when babies start teething so perhap a long, long, long time ago when a baby was drooling buckets, some relative got the idea to soak up the drool with some cookies and... a custom was born.
1. Make a cookie necklace by taking a piece of string and finding donut-shaped cookies. If such cookies cannot be found, use Digestive cookies and poke holes in them (warning, high defect rate).
2. Place cookie necklace over head of 4-month old baby.
3. Take aforementioned baby to relatives. Relatives will then, a. break off a cookie, b. with cookie halves, gently swipe the baby's cheeks, c. say poetic words or proverbs, d. eat cookie halves.
I read nowadays this custom is rarely practiced in Taiwan. I remember asking Taiwanese friends and co-workers about this custom when Griffon turned 4 months old, but they had no idea what I was talking about.
When asked about the reason behind the custom, was told had something to do with preventing the baby from drooling too much. I guess if one thinks about it, this is the age about when babies start teething so perhap a long, long, long time ago when a baby was drooling buckets, some relative got the idea to soak up the drool with some cookies and... a custom was born.
posted by dal g at 8:43 AM
1 Comments:
My son just turned 4mo and my grandmother insists on doing the cookie ceremony. I've never heard of it, and I'm trying to research this tradition so I can explain the history and purpose to my half japanese/half white husband. Your blog on the topic is the only thing I can find. haha thanks!
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