I was delighted to read Joycey’s news, even though I don’t know her. Baby fever is so infectious it can make the problems of our adult lives seem silly.
I wish Joyce and her husband Marc all the best as they embark on their big adventure.
I do not have kids of my own, but through my friend in the slums, Mr Ball, who is father to a girl aged one month, I feel as if I do.
Ball and his girlfriend share with me intimate details of their parenthood experience, so I am lucky.
When I drop in, often I find them locked in conversation about this or that minute detail about their daughter's care. They appear as if they have been transported to another place.
Ball and Jay have posted half a dozen videos to YouTube of their young daughter. In the first videos, taken shortly after birth, she is tiny.
In the latest, taken four weeks later, she looks much bigger, and stronger. A few days ago, she started eating banana, her first solids since birth.
'The banana discovery was magic,' enthuses Ball. 'She sleeps better, and hardly grizzles.'
Ball’s teenage face appears in the frame of one video, planting half a dozen kisses on his daughter’s cheek.
One day, baby Min (we now have a name), will be old enough to know how devoted her parents are, and how much hope they have invested in her future.
By then, she’ll be old enough to think for herself.
Ball and Jay will have to get used to having a young set of eyes keenly observing the way they conduct their lives, mimicking them, passing judgement, as she grows into the responsible young adult whom her parents hope to mould.
What is parenthood, if not the opportunity to help build a child’s future? It must be the most exciting journey on earth, and I regret never having the courage to take such a bold step myself.
-
Baby Min now has a shaved head, to mark the first month since she emerged from her mother’s womb.
A few days ago, Ball’s mother shaved Min’s head and eyebrows, as part of a Thai custom known as korn pom fai (โกนผมไฟ).
Some Thais invite a monk to do it, as they believe it is more likely to bring good luck and fortune.
At Ball’s place, Mum performed the task – just as she shaved the heads of the household's two toddlers, less than two years ago - and the heads of her own four children, many years before.
I was walking through the slum on the way to the 7-11 when I came across Ball’s mother, clutching a small bag of jasmine flowers. ‘I am about to shave the baby’s head...come and watch,’ she said.
When I turned up at her place 10 minutes later, Mum already had the baby in hand, and was shaving her head with a razor, aided by lao khao (rice whisky) in place of shaving cream.
The alcohol, wiped on her head, helped cut away a thin deposit of what looked like fat, or perhaps skin cells, which came off when Mum shaved off the baby’s hair.
‘Some Thais believe the hair which the baby has on her head at birth may carry germs or illness. Cut it off, and she will enjoy better health,’ Mum explained.
‘However, the most popular belief is that if we cut off her hair and eyebrows now, they will grow back fuller than before,’ she said.
After one month, the child’s parents can also cut their child’s fingernails and toenails for the first time.
Once her little head was shaved – Baby Min slept through most of the ordeal, and barely whimpered even while awake – Mum started on her eyebrows. She rubbed jasmine petals on the space where the eyebrows were, to help them grow back more fully.
Mum's four adult children all have thick eyebrows, and wonderfully thick heads of hair, so perhaps the ritual works.
Min is an attractive child, even without hair, I noticed last night. Her head has an unusual angular shape, though I am told the shape of head, like everything else about her body, can change.
Mother, father and I tried to work out whether the hair on her head had started to grow back yet.
‘It looks darker,’ insisted Jay.
‘Rubbish...too soon,’ said Ball, good naturedly.
 |
| Korn pom fai (someone else's baby) |
A few days ago, Ball’s mother shaved Min’s head and eyebrows, as part of a Thai custom known as korn pom fai (โกนผมไฟ).
Some Thais invite a monk to do it, as they believe it is more likely to bring good luck and fortune.
At Ball’s place, Mum performed the task – just as she shaved the heads of the household's two toddlers, less than two years ago - and the heads of her own four children, many years before.
I was walking through the slum on the way to the 7-11 when I came across Ball’s mother, clutching a small bag of jasmine flowers. ‘I am about to shave the baby’s head...come and watch,’ she said.
When I turned up at her place 10 minutes later, Mum already had the baby in hand, and was shaving her head with a razor, aided by lao khao (rice whisky) in place of shaving cream.
The alcohol, wiped on her head, helped cut away a thin deposit of what looked like fat, or perhaps skin cells, which came off when Mum shaved off the baby’s hair.
‘Some Thais believe the hair which the baby has on her head at birth may carry germs or illness. Cut it off, and she will enjoy better health,’ Mum explained.
‘However, the most popular belief is that if we cut off her hair and eyebrows now, they will grow back fuller than before,’ she said.
After one month, the child’s parents can also cut their child’s fingernails and toenails for the first time.
Once her little head was shaved – Baby Min slept through most of the ordeal, and barely whimpered even while awake – Mum started on her eyebrows. She rubbed jasmine petals on the space where the eyebrows were, to help them grow back more fully.
Mum's four adult children all have thick eyebrows, and wonderfully thick heads of hair, so perhaps the ritual works.
Min is an attractive child, even without hair, I noticed last night. Her head has an unusual angular shape, though I am told the shape of head, like everything else about her body, can change.
Mother, father and I tried to work out whether the hair on her head had started to grow back yet.
‘It looks darker,’ insisted Jay.
‘Rubbish...too soon,’ said Ball, good naturedly.
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