In Korean culture, this is a Big. Deal. I knew it in theory, but last night, I actually googled, "dol" which is the name for the ceremony.
Oops.
Now I'm totally intimidated. Not so much because I have a thousand Korean peers I need to impress, but Mom K does and she is SO proud of this little baby. He's not going to remember it, we don't really care, but it is a tangible, significant way we can honor her (and give her photos to flaunt to her friends).
Just scroll through this page and you'll see what I mean: http://www.kokoliving.com/korean_baby_dol_first_bir/
I'm profoundly grateful that I have a Korean friend in the neighborhood. B-boy's dol was September 8th and she was relatively casual about it, but she did go nuts with handcrafts. She hot-glued two bean towers (you'll see them in the pictures on the link), one says Congratulations Birthday and the other has a bunny on it (2011: year of the rabbit), so both are reusable. Because of her I have paper chains, hanging stars and paper flowers to use for decor. She also did "happy birthday" so we can hang that behind the table. I'm making plant hangers from rafia. I've got some spider plant babies that I'm going to put in decorative glasses with water and hang those along the front of the deck. I've borrowed tunnels, a tyke mobile and a swing/slide for the back yard segment of the event.
Mom and I are heading back to H-mart (Korean mega grocery store) on Friday to get fruit, flowers and favors for the party. Then poor Jrex has to rush over there Saturday morning to get the 'dol cake'.
At 2 pm Saturday we're due to have 20+ adults and 7 kids arrive to see the Korean ceremony. Then we'll serve up Korean food and hang out in the backyard enjoying the new deck. A little bit high brow for Mom, a lot casual for us.
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| Our new addition: a 17 x 13 foot deck finished just in time for the party. |
In other life ironies...
I hate pink. For girls, for decor, in general. It's a silly color and represents girls being told they need to fit a certain box. Studies show that a blue room is calming and a pink room is over-stimulating. I'm sorry if you like the color, I just have strong feelings and I'm willing to take it outside if that's necessary (one of the phrases I love from my childhood, "What? You got something to say? You want to take it outside, fool?!").
So, Mom K went to Korea this spring and brought back two Korean outfits for Brex. Apparently androgyny is trendy in Korea... so, yes. My son gets to wear either a navy top with pink pants or a pink top with light blue pants. Either way, the little pope hat he wears is pink. Mom's known me now for how many years? I guess it just emphasizes that the part of the birthday ceremony that will happen in the dining room is all hers. Then we toss him in comfy clothes and let him crawl in the dirt with all the other toddlers.
6 comments:
Wow! I read the Koko link. It's amazing. And I'm pleased to see that Koreans are keeping their traditions alive. Earlier immigration waves were too eager to acquire American ways and abandon their heritage.
Do you plan to wear your Korean wedding dress for the formal portion of the party?
Gracious! I looked at the link too and I am staggered by the amount of planning. Good luck getting everything ready.
I have a photo I like of a mom and babe in Nepal. The child is wearing pink, so I assumed a girl. My Nepalie friends told me the baby was definitely a boy, dressed in pink so that the evil spirits don't steal him.
ps. Gus's favorite color is pink.
pps. Happy Day, BRex!
I started planning my son's Dol only <2 months in advance when I found out that other people had been spending 1-2 hours PER DAY since their kid was 6 months old. I didn't spend that much time planning my wedding!!
I think the Dol is going the way of the American wedding and becoming more about showing off than tradition (I saw ones thrown in ballrooms with open bars and DJs at 7pm where the baby was only present for a tiny bit before whisked away!).
I did make my own towers out of beans, but stupidly only did a tiger and my son's name. So I have another Dol for my daughter early next year and I need all new ones! And a DRAGON in beans at that?!
Hope yours goes wonderfully and you get some great pictures. The doljabi is the fun part!
Happy Birthday and congrats on ONE year Brex and Mom!! Hope everything went well on saturday!!
Okay, I'm dying of suspense over here. Did you survive? How did it go? I hope that whatever happened, that is was fun for you and for your little guy, even if it was a little over-the-top for Mom K's sake.
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