Ear Piercing Ceremony

Ear piercing is an important ceremony in Hindu traditions. It is another milestone, sacrament and believe that piercing of a hole in the lower lobes of the ear have benefits of acupuncture. 

Ear piercing usually performed on 10th, 12th or 16th day after child's birth.  Some choose to perform it during 6th or 7th months after birth. The ritual is also performed on odd years after birth of a child, for example on 3rd or 5th year. During this age it is believed that the ear lobes of a child is soft and the pain will be mild. There are two methods sought after for ear piercing, either by a needle or shooter/ piercing guns. I have done some reading and gathered experience from other moms on both methods.


Here are some pro's and cons of piercing with a gun and needle:

Piercing Gun

Pro's

a)  Almost painless and quick; 

b) Child will almost not realise because of the numb spray will be applied  immediately after piercing; and 

c) Earrings are often pre-sterilise and packaged

Con's

a) Uses low quality jewellery (studs only) that often leads to skin irritation and prolongs the healing time;
b) Higher chances of infections; and
c) uneven piercing

Piercing with needle

Pro's
a) Also a quick process;

b) Healing is faster as less tissue trauma on ears as needle is often sharp; and

c) Various choice of earrings that can be used with needle piercing (especially for hindu custom where we will be using gold jewellery) 

Con's

a) Most of the time it is done without a numb spray; often leads child to painful ordeal and second ear piercing will be a struggle

Back to little Reya's ear piercing ceremony. My hubs has long planned for having Reya's ear piercing ceremony and prayers in Butterworth which my parents had agreed immediately. A chance to visit mom's hometown is always an immediate yes for them, includes my brother who longed for a break.

Initially we planned for getting her ear pierced using a shooter/ piercing gun. But after weighing all the pros and cons we resorted for needle piercing. Reya's ear pierced by an experienced goldsmith on 30th August 2015 (Sunday), 11.10 am. It was so joyful to see our 3 years old girl with an earring on for the first time. She cried during the piercing and after awhile almost didn't realise she was wearing one and plays as usual. 

Reya's excited look before the piercing done.
Beautiful Maha Mariamman Temple in Butterworth as background here.

This photo was taken at evening on the same day during our visit to Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Temple in Penang

Thank you for reading!!

Raising Smart Toddlers

It is every parents dream to raise smart children so that in future they will be able to achieve success and contribute to the community. Often said that every child is born as a brand new white canvas and we as parents will color and mould them with correct attitudes and habits. I have did some research on how to raise a smart kid/toddlers and came across various tips:

a) Building a child's spirit by asking to try harder. Praising in each effort tend to make them work harder and build their confidence and they learn not to give up easily;

b) Reading to a child helps build vocabulary. The more new words a child hear the better the brain development. Exposing a child to various diversified word help them in reading, writing and spelling skills later on;

c) Guiding children according to their social emotional development cue. As parents we need to support our children to identify and help to express the emotional cues. For example when one of Reya's friend accidentally bumped on her and both fell down, we can say "ops it was an accident" to help them overcome negativity. Same goes when the child do some thing good like sharing on toys or wait for turns while playing patiently, give out lots of praises so that the child keep up with the good habit.

Some of their social emotional developments milestones are as follows:

** more information on social emotional development can be obtained from https://www.virtuallabschool.org/preschool/social-emotional/lesson-2 and http://www.cdc.gov/NCBDDD/actearly/pdf/checklists/All_Checklists.pdf

d) Encourage curiosity and continuous learning at home even your child is going to a preschool;

e) Giving some opportunity for the child to be independent (only for things that are tolerable) ex: choosing a dress, an activity during a play time or which story book to read during bedtime. Healthy independence will help them to build their decision making skills; and

f)  Sometimes unstructured activities is good for children. So now and than skip that routine and indulge in fun activities together with your child. This will create strong bonding and they are at their best when they feel valued and loved for who they are!

Thank you for reading and share with us on what your tips for raising smart toddlers.