Essay Example: Ritual for Welcoming a Newborn

The birth of a newborn is an important event in our culture. The arrival of the baby attracts celebrations involving gifts, songs, and discussions. The ritual involved in welcoming a newborn in our culture is unusual and a foreigner will not miss surprises that result from the rituals. Toddlers are special beings to the parents and therefore, parents will not miss an opportunity to ensure that their infants grow strong and healthy. As result, parents are careful so that they cannot forget to perform a daily ritual for their kids to ensure that they grow healthy.

First, during birth, our culture holds that the umbilical cord is an important feature that brings a meaningful relationship between the parent and the baby. As a result, after birth, the culture does not allow the midwives to throw away the umbilical code but preserve it in a wooden box for the mother. Universally, the communities around the world treasure the first shoes for the baby and the first haircut where the parents keep safe the hair lock. However, the biological connections between the mother and child are important in our culture.

The foreigners into our local culture find our belief on the safekeeping of the umbilical code as meaningless though our people give a priority to the safety of the organ. It is common for doctors to package the umbilical code in wooden boxes and give them to the mothers when leaving hospitals after the delivery. The packaging of the umbilical code in the boxes is done with skills. In this case, the umbilical code is packed with a doll resembling a baby sleeping in the box. The members of our society believe in the positive relationship between the baby and the mother throughout the entire life. As a result, throwing away the umbilical code after the delivery of the baby is one way of destroying the positive relationship between the baby and the mother.

The naming of the kid is an import event in our culture. It is the duty of parents, grandparents, and relatives to give the newborn a suitable name. The newborn takes the name of the father and a new name that the parents, friends, and the relatives decide on the day of celebration. The official name for the baby is very important and therefore the parents are patient when choosing the official name for the kid. The name of the kids is a symbol of greatness in the entire life of the baby. In our culture, the names determine the height of success that the baby will reach in his life. As a result, parents will wish to give the babies names that such suggest success and great history makers for their kid. For this reason, the official name for the baby is an important activity for the parent and the relatives during the early stages of child development.

Rituals for the newborn do not end after child naming. The parents are concerned about the healthy growth of the baby and therefore perform various rituals that are guided by cultural beliefs. For example, there is a hidden value for subjecting the baby to cold breeze during lunchtime in our community. Our community considers a freezing cold as healthy for kids. It is common for parents to leave their kids to sleep outside the balcony in a freezing cold during lunchtime. There is something unique about cold air in our culture. It is hard to establish the scientific implication of the cold air in the health of toddler yet the parents in our culture value the cold air. In our region, the cold air from the sea crosses the land during lunchtime and therefore lunchtime is the best time to leave the toddlers sleeping on the balcony.

It is apparent that the hope for healthy growth in the toddlers is the motivation for parents to take their kids to sleep on the balcony. The main reasons for taking the kids to sleep in a cold breeze emanates from the belief that the cold breeze boosts appetite and sleep among the babies. Toddlers who sleep in the cold breeze eat well and sleep well during the night. Subjecting the kids to a cold breeze is the activity for both parents. For example, the parents could be having a great time in a restaurant and under the shed during lunchtime. During the time, the babies are left sleeping on the balcony or the sidewalk enjoying the cold breeze.

The practicing for leaving the babies in the cold breeze is not without theories that support the health of the baby. The parents believe that leaving the baby in the fresh air reduces the chances that the kid catches a cold. The parents do not see value for leaving the kid with other kids in the room. The practices of leaving the baby in the fresh air are spreading across many cultures because it is beneficial to the health of the child.