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I was not aware of the existence of a certain kind of knowledge or ‘Science’ until I became a mother. Though I had prepared myself emotionally, physically and mentally during the 9 months of pregnancy, but there were some things that caught me off guard completely.
One day a guest came to see my daughter when she was 2 weeks old.
Among other things she asked me when I am out of the room who remains with the baby?
I told her sometimes my mother is with her but most of the time there is no one. Moreover I don’t leave her on her own for longer periods of time. She just looked at me with astonishment and told me while pitying me for not knowing the fact, you can’t leave your child alone in “chilla”( first 6 weeks of birth).
Why not? I asked dumbfounded
She shook her head while giving me that same pitying look and said you can’t understand, anyway even if you have to leave her, just place a pair of scissors or a knife under her pillow.
I was shocked and somewhat perplexed. But I got over it and shook it away.
Well it was not over. Every guest who came in Chilla period, enlightened me more. I got so confused as to why I never heard of these things before. After some digging and googling I came to know that these old wives tales are not only the specialty of our society but can be found all over the world. I have gathered some interesting old wives tales here, have a look at them and enjoy but don’t take them serious.
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If a new mother takes her baby along to visit someone and leaves a baby item behind in the house, a woman in that household will become pregnant in the near future.
- Placing a pair of scissors underneath a baby’s pillow will ward off evil spirits.
- If someone looks at a robust baby, with envy, this is known as the ‘evil eye’ or more commonly as ‘nazar’ here in our part of the world. The baby could shrink as a result.
- Parents can protect their baby from receiving the evil eye by placing some soot on the baby’s forehead.
- Asafetida is a brown sticky substance that is derived from the roots of some plants. It was once believed that placing this substance in a blue cloth and placing it in the baby’s hand, or placing it in the hair, will ward off evil spirits.
- If a baby falls asleep as it is about to be taken somewhere out of the house, the mother must say it’s name and say, “We are going.” This way the baby will behave while it is out.
- Wearing shoes will help a baby learn to walk faster. This is not only wrong it can be detrimental. Babies do best when they don’t have anything on their feet – this includes socks. This helps strengthen their foot muscles as well as provides traction as well as allows baby to explore touch through their foot.
- An infant walker will help teach a baby to walk faster. This also can be detrimental to baby. Walkers inhibit walking because it does not teach the baby to balance and walk on their own. In addition, mobile walkers are actually very dangerous for babies and it has been recommended that they be banned.
- Cats can steal the air from a baby’s mouth. This dates back to a time when cats were considered evil spirits. It’s impossible for cats, or any other animal for that matter, to steal air from a baby’s mouth or to suffocate a baby by covering baby’s mouth with their own. However, any animal should be supervised when close to a baby.
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