Category Archives: Gestation, birth, and infancy

Generally up to the first year.

Mexican Piñata Song

Nationality: Italian American
Age: 56
Occupation: Spanish teacher
Residence: Troy, MI
Performance Date: 4-26-2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

When children break a piñata, the participants sing a particular song:

“Cuando niños van a romper una piñata, ellos cantan:

Dale, dale, dale                    Hit it, hit it, hit it

no pierdas el tino.               Don’t lose your skill.

Mide la distancia                 Measure the distance

que hay en el camino.      Between you and the piñata.


Hay otra versión de la canción:                                   (first 2 lines are the same)

Porque si lo pierdes        Because if you lose it

pierdes el camino.       You’ll lose the way.”

My Aunt, a high school Spanish teacher who has traveled to tens of Spanish speaking countries, often sings this song at her birthday celebrations and I had her send me the lyrics and translation.  Although the song and game are usually played by young children in Mexico, but not in Spain or South America according to my aunt.  The lyrics almost directly instruct the player how to play the piñata game.  Instructing the player to hit the piñata, calculate the distance to it, and do their best to aim.

Overall this is a fun tradition to break the piñata and have the candy flow out on a birthday celebration.  The game appears to have made its way to the United States, but I have yet to hear a song instructing the players how to win in the English language.  I find it interesting that the game has crossed the border, but the song has not.  Piñatas can be found at a variety of party stores around the United States and are often associated with Mexican themed birthdays, fiestas, or Cinco de Mayo celebrations.  I enjoy that a fun party game has transcended borders, allowing Americans to partake in Mexican festivities and spreading the culture further.


Tradition – Chinese

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 34
Occupation: Real Estate Agent
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: May 2007
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

After a mother has a baby, she is not allowed to shower or leave the house for a month.  After the baby has survived the first month, there is a welcoming party.

Karena does not believe in this tradition because she finds that it is extremely difficult to stay at home for an entire month with a baby.  She limits her outgoings to a bare minimum, letting other people do her grocery shopping and errands.  However, she thinks that this tradition was started in the early days when there it was not safe for women to leave the house during the first month of birth.  In fact, she learned from her mother-in-law that they were not even supposed to shower because they did not have blow dryers.  Her mother-in-law, who is a first generation Chinese, said that leaving the house with the hair wet will cause the mother to get sick and not be able to take care of the baby.

Keeping a baby healthy is important in the Chinese culture, especially when technology was not advanced as it is now.  Before, they had to be extremely cautious with their newborns because they did not have any western medicine to cure diseases and colds.  So, the mother is protected by having this tradition of not showering or leaving the house.  In this day and age, this tradition is ignored by Chinese-Americans, yet is still common in undeveloped areas.  The lack of showering is out of the question for Americans, but staying in the house for a month is still frequently followed.  The mother should be resting and taking care of the baby; leaving the house would be deemed unnecessary.  After a month, the Chinese throw a party to celebrate the child’s birth.  This is often believed to be a tradition because in the olden days, the babies did not always survive the first month.  If it did survive, then it was believed that they were healthy enough to live a long and prosperous life, which is a reason enough to celebrate.  During this party, the baby is dressed up in its best clothes and presented to the parents’ family and friends.  This party is to remember a baby’s rite of passage into the real world after its birth.

By keeping the baby and the mother safe, the Chinese can ensure a safe life and then celebrate the baby’s birth.

Lullaby – Costa Rica

Nationality: Costa Rican
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Lullaby – Costa Rica

“Los Pollitos Dicen”

“The Little Chicks Say”

Verse 1:

Los pollitos dicen pío, pío, pío

The little chicks they say pio pio pio

The little chicks say, “cheep, cheep, cheep,”

Cuando tienen hambre, cuando tienen frío.

When they have hunger, when they have cold

When they are hungry, when they are cold

Verse 2: (same melody)

La gallina busca el maíz y el trigo

The mother hen looks for the corn and the wheat

The mother hen looks for corn and wheat

les da la comida y les presta abrigo.

To them give the food and to them grant shelter

She gives them food and grants them shelter.

Verse 3: (same melody)

Bajo de sus alas, acurrucaditos

Under of her wings, huddling up,

Under mama’s wings, huddling up,

¡duermen los pollitos hasta el otro día!

Sleep the little chicks until the other day!

The little chicks sleep until the next day!

This is a Costa Rican nursery rhyme that Natalia’s mother used to sing to her when Natalia was a little girl. Whenever she was frightened about something or had a hard time going to sleep, Natalia would curl up on her mother’s lap as her mother whispered this song into her ear. She recalls falling asleep on her mother’s lap on several occasions while hearing this nursery rhyme. The words are very comforting to a young child, as they explain the comfort one can find under a mother’s wings.  She also explained that her grandmother would sing this lullaby to her mother when her mother was a toddler. Thus, Natalia hopes to preserve this family tradition as she teaches this lullaby to her own kids someday.

The lyrics of this nursery rhyme illustrate the unconditional and unyielding love that a mother has for her children, further highlighting the importance of maternal care in the Costa Rican culture. This rhyme begins with the sound of crying chicks that are hungry and cold, symbolizing the cries of children who need to be taken care of. Then, the mother hen actively searches for food and shelter, allowing the chicks to gather up under her wings and sleep. This is analogous to the amount of work mothers are willing to perform for the comfort of their children, and the complete protection that a mother desires to provide her children with. The fact that this nursery rhyme is presented to children usually by their mothers is a testament to the amount of self-sacrificial love that Costa Rican mothers have for their children.

A slightly different, but very similar, version of this lullaby was found in The Book of Lullabies, compiled by John M. Feierabend. Verse 1 and 2 of both Natalia’s version and the published version are identical. However, Verse 3 of the printed version states, “Bajo sus dos alas, acurrucaditos, cuando tienen suerio, duermen los pollitos,” rather than Natalia’s version which states, “Bajo de sus alas, acurrucaditos. ¡Duermen los pollitos hasta el otro día!” According to Feierabend, the published version is translated as “Under [the chick’s] wings, folded up, when they are sleepy, the chicks sleep.” This version of Verse 3 is not as potent and hopeful as the version that Natalia’s mother had sung to Natalia: “Under mama’s wings, huddling up, the little chicks sleep until the next day!” Although he does not state where or when he collected this piece of folklore, Feierabend states that lullabies are the root of all sung music, and “certainly one of the loveliest ways of showing a child how deeply you feel for him or her.” [1]

[1] Annotation: Feierabend, John M., comp. The Book of Lullabies. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc., 2000. 66.

First Tooth Party—Armenian

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Nationality: Armenian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Glendale, CA
Performance Date: May 1, 2008
Primary Language: Armenian
Language: Russian, English

Agra Hadig

Tooth Wheat

First Tooth Party

Agra Hadig is a party that celebrates a baby’s first tooth. Mary had one when she got her first tooth as well. She told me that the “wheat” of “hadig” denotes a special food that is made with boiled wheat, cinnamon, dried cranberries, and roasted walnuts. Another popular feature of this event is when the baby is set on a table and “they just put random things around it, to see what it picks up.” This is their way of predicting the baby’s future, and according to Mary, it works. “I picked up a pen, and I like to write,” said the communication major, “and my sister chose the money, and it came true, because—it’s not that she likes money—but she really likes to save money.” Sometimes, the adults will ritualistically tear the baby’s shirt. This is done so that all the rest of the baby’s teeth will come out easily and without pain.

I believe this tradition may have occurred because the historical Armenians might have been wary of enthusiastically celebrating and embracing a new baby until it was somewhat certain that it was healthy and will survive reasonably long. I believe this, because Agra Hadig seems to so closely resemble other traditions of other cultures in which they also delay the celebration of a baby’s life until after a certain point. Koreans hold a huge celebration for a baby’s 100th day—it was thought that if a baby could make it past 100 days, it has a good chance of living on. I’ve also heard of Eastern European peoples who set that date on a baby’s 40th day. The Armenians, then, seem to have thought that the growth of the first tooth is a sign of health.

The ritual of discerning the baby’s disposition by watching it choose from a number of symbolic objects is also done in the Korean 100th day celebration. I would say that this is a show of hope and enthusiasm for the baby’s long life lying ahead. ‘Now that we know this baby is healthy,’ they seem to be thinking, ‘let us speculate a bit about its future!’

About its reliability as a divination method—it seems to work upon the assumption that people’s lifelong personality and dispositions are inherent and static from birth. It also seems to suggest that humans have an almost instinctual, perhaps unconscious understanding of the meaning of the symbolic objects. That a born writer can somehow sense the significance of a pen the day he is born—or the day his tooth is born. There is also a hint of determinism, that idea that the destiny of a person is already somewhat determined before they realize it. I do not know much about Armenian thought, but I must say I would not be surprised if they had some belief in these things—destiny and static personality.

Another thought I must add. I wonder if conditioning does not play some part in this. According to my mother, I, too picked a pen, and my brother picked money. Though she is not blatantly superstitious, she does not seem to altogether dismiss belief either. I often would hear her say, “and you see? You’ll be an intellectual, but you can’t save a dollar—not like your brother. He is too impatient to study, but he hoards every penny.” Well, quite frankly, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard her say something like this to us much before we were old enough to actually reveal a scholarly disposition versus a financial flair. I also have to wonder if I had picked the money, and my brother, the pen, would not my mother be saying instead, “and you see? You love to spend your money—but your brother is always impatient to learn more!”

I would wager to guess that constant reinforcement and conditioning by the parent with specific expectations plays no small role in the occasional (and dubious) accuracy of this particular version of the personality test.

Annotation: Dresser, N. (1999). Multicultural Celerations: Today’s Rules of Ettiquette for Life’s Special Occasions. University of Virginia: Three Rivers Press, pg. 55