Some might know this and some might not. I didn't know anything about it until I was told of this 'tradition' in the Asian culture. Of course, like any other culture or any other tradition, its probably not set in stone... but its a nice game (if you will...) and hope in the parents mind for the future. Ok, now for the tradition and its meaning...
In the Asian culture when a child turns one, on their birthday you put 5 random objects in front of them representing the things they would possibly like or like to be in the future. Example: 2 of Thao's younger cousins were put in front of 5 random objects when they turned 1. one went for a pencil, one went for a credit card. The one that went for the pencil is a budding artist now, and the one that went for the credit card... well, she's a shop-a-holic. Tonight, we tried this little trick with Kami since it was his first birthday.
We put a credit card, a pencil, a medicine bottle, a camera (not one of mine!), and a calculator (I think) in the middle of the room. We put Kami in our lap, about 3 or 4 feet away and just sat there watching him. After a few minutes of blowing bubbles, saying random baby words, and pointing at something (thats his new thing), he started crawling toward the objects. In the back of my mind, I was hoping he would go for the camera... obviously. Since Thao and I both have artistic talent, it would only be fitting for him to have some sort of a talent in art, whatever the field it may be. Even if he went toward the pen, it would've been down the same artistic path similar to the camera. To both of our surprise - or expectation and hope - he crawled straight to the medicine bottle. Thao and I looked at each other in a look of disbelief and both said "Dr. Sassani". LOL!!! Has a good ring to it, don't you think?
For those who might not know, Doctors of all kinds are an abundance in both of our families. My family includes a surgeon, a PhD (we call him Dr), an oral surgeon, and other distant relatives who are Doctors overseas and in the mother land. Thao's family includes a slue of Pharmacist including her sister, eye surgeons, OBG, and other kinds of Doctors. Honestly, if Kami does go into medicine, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. I would love for him to do things I never got the chance or had the patience to do... not to mention had the stomach for. Whatever he does, I hope he's happy and successful at it. I won't try to hold him back. I won't try to steer him away from his love... unless its destructive to him and others. I won't try to discourage him to push himself further to become a better person. I hope he's prosperous, happy, content, and lives long enough to see his own kids grow up and be successful.
So for now, we'll enjoy him being a 1 year old and all the fun that comes with that. For the future... well, we'll just have to wait and see what Dr. Kami does.
Happy Birthday baby Kami.
