My brother-in-law's baby daughter (my wife's niece) is 3 months old now and she doesn't have much hair (which I believe is nothing unusual at her age). A few days ago the young family went to Kaohsiung to visit the little girl's grandparents, the mother's side of the family. This is part of the obligatory Lunar New Year tradition, where the married daughter has to return home to visit her parents on the second day. Everything was fine until the proud grandpa pulled down the baby hoodie and saw the lack of (thick lustrous) hair on his beloved granddaughter. "Naturally" both grandparents became concerned, but they also came up with a quick solution. Guess what they've proposed? They asked my wife to buy shoes for the little girl, so that the hair will grow faster. How this is correlated is beyond my comprehension, but apparently "the aunt shall buy shoes", if a baby's hair is not growing fast enough. My wife's parents, northern Taiwanese, don't believe in this superstition, but they're still pushing her to buy the shoes as soon as possible, so that her brother's in-laws won't lose face. In Taiwan you better don't challenge your in-law's proposals, even if they seem absurd to you - comply and keep harmony - this is usually the best option. I do wonder, if the new shoes don't grow a lion's mane on the little girl's head in the shortest time, what will be the next remedy they'll propose. Hopefully not an expensive ritual at a temple.
5 COMMENTS:
Hm... its not healthy for the development of babies feet and leg muscule to wear shoes that young...
maybe you can remind them of buddhist saying... less hair - less worries :)
@anja: You have a point. Actually the shoes are just for good luck, they don't need to be worn (according to the latest info I got from Lily) :-)
Aha... :)
Our daughter got her first shoes at 12 months for birthday. But her hair din't start growing any faster. Well maybe now, when she got her winter shoes I noticed she got a bit more hair. Is there any special feature these shoes should have? ha ha... or what are we doing wrong?!
But there are many advantages of not having hair as a baby. Like Its less trouble washing and kids can't pull her hair if they fight. I started to like Sonja's hairstyle so much I am thinking to keep it short even when they do start growing.... :) otherwise she will be too pretty and I will be afraid somebody might kidnapp her.
I agree with the first comment. I dont think it is healthy for a 3 month old baby to start wearing shoes, but i guess yes, you cannot go against what your in-laws have to say.
@anja: I will also focus on the advantages and won't bother about the hair, hehe. Shall see how it goes :) Thanks for sharing.
@angel gonzales: Good points.
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