Myths, old wives tales, taboos, superstitions and mysterious believes have been surrounding me all the while, but with Pearl’s pregnancy, delivery, confinement and also the arrival of our baby, the amount of its-better-to-believe kind of rules is really taking a toll on me.
Many of these so called myths are always brought into the picture with “they say that if you do this, eats this, drink that, do something a certain way, certain catastrophe will befall onto you and when you are old, you will suffer multiple pains and aches and nobody will pity you, because you did not heed our advice when we told you.”
I’m a logical person and its very very extremely difficult for me to abide by certain traditional, mystical practices and apparently powerful supernatural hocus-pocus thingy majiggy. If someone can give me a good explanation, I’ll be more than willing to accept it, but the best reason I’ve heard so far is “that’s what they say…”.
Because of this stressful predicament, I try not to outwardly show too strong a resistance, but try to appreciate the good intention of others who are clearly following the blind when they say “that’s what they all say you know, you should believe it.”
Like take for example, “They say that you should not move furniture when a pregnant woman is in the room.” That to me is acceptable as accidents can happen and the pregnant one might be hurt or even suffer a miscarriage, that’s my explanation, but when I ask for an explanation from those that told me about it, the best they could do is “That’s what they say…”
During confinement you should not shower or have a bath, you should not even wash your hair or hands with water. You cannot eat almost everything and you definitely cannot drink almost everything. If you don’t follow strictly to these rules, you will suffer sever rheumatism, pain and aches that you will regret when you are in your 40s. I’ve did a bit of research and have consulted doctors and they mentioned that its true only in cold countries as the water will get into your system and might cause pneumonia, but in humid countries like Singapore, its not a problem.
Who are THEY? Where are THEY? Why is this group of THEY disseminating such practices without any good explanation? I think THEY are busy doing THAT thing over THERE.
We all pay thousands of dollars to doctors for their knowledge and experience on conditions that we have, but sometimes when doctors are shunned, it really saddens me as some would rather chose to believe unreliable sources then the doctors that they are willing to pay. It doesn’t make any sense to me.
Well, I suppose all these ‘tradition’ and ‘sayings’ are passed down from generations to generations. And I guess the early generations of ppl came from China.
Such practises, perhaps, have worked over there and not knowing that all these work different in different countries, they just continued passing down such ‘knowledge’ to newer generations. This thus created the ‘taboo’ here, and no, scientific knowledge doesn’t work with them.
Just hang in there. Just pretend to listen to them or something but do as you deem fit. After a while, it’ll be over, as your child grows and the confinement period over.
Just a reader passing by…
i agree with everything you just said, especially the cold country part… singapore is too hot to catch anything except skin problems due to humidity and damp, it’s well known the National Skin Centre.
“THEY” are the MEN IN BLACK. Agents Kay and Jay. as to why they don’t reveal who “they” are is because they don’t remember.
hahaha…this is so funny !! :)
haha finally got myself broadband… woohoo…
but its not as quick as i ideally hope it to be… but its good enuff for now at least…
“I think THEY are busy doing THAT thing over THERE.” << sounds kewl… and funky… alwayys~ ;P
anywayz no time for blogs now… i think ME should be busy HERE surfing for THAT over @ j-girls!!! yeahh….
(x_O)y
as Jack Neo says it smiling: “See a doctor.”
:) That’s why they are called old wives tales. But kudos for you to actually go to the lengths of finding it out from the professionals. That shows how much you love Pearl :)
Amen. I think you certainly have many things to thank God for :)
Yeah, I definitely concur with u on the old-wife tales thingy..esp since I’ve , like ur wife had just given birth [abt 2 wks ago..]. I don’t understand how they expect me not to shower/wash hair for the entire month ..isn’t it unhygenic to be so unwashed while tending to ur baby?
It’s tough at times, when these old folks insist on their way..especially if they r either your own parent or ur in-laws *argh*..
Ok..just a supportive rant~ :)
i cldn’t say it better myself Nick! i totally agree with u! i for one do not buy that crap load of stuff called superstition and stuff pple believe in that has no basis. afterall, we are not bound by the so-called rules (i.e. superstitions) of this world! i reckon there is some advice u get from older folks that may actually hold water. cos its probably tried and tested. altho its prob true that DRs don’t know everything, i think they deserve more credit than we are prepared to give. enuf said : )
“They” is prolly hearsay.
Well, my sweetie pie did send me mum round the bend as when mumsie visited her at the hospital right after our #1 daughter was born, she was busy having a shower and washing her hair leisurely… anyways, believe it or not… the wifey is 40+ now, and yep, she does have rheumatism, so much so that her little pinkies are swollen and crooked…. can’t straighten them at all, and she have to have prescription cartillage to strengthen those joints…but, whether this is all related to the shower-during-the-confinement-thingy… who knows??? Anyways, good luck on your little one… she is sooo cute…. ours is all grown up and in college now! :-) Still as darling as ever, but that’s biased opinion!! :-0