lore = traditional knowledge or belief

flanny — Mon, 31 May 2010 12:40:35 +0000

I hadn’t realized that motherlore is not actually a word in the dictionary. I was looking for a website name that would capture the idea of traditional knowledge or beliefs around the subject of parenting because I wanted to explore where our parental lore comes from. Many of us from North America are especially far removed from our cultural heritage yet we have acquired our parental lore from somewhere.

As a new mother whenever I had a question I searched the web looking for advice on everything from breastfeeding to sleeping to vaccinations. I found lots of information about North American standards and a lot of it the same but what I really wanted to know was what were other mothers in other cultures doing and what advice did their mothers give them? Even in european culture there are many differences between countries on issues surrounding children and things such as when and where do babies sleep.

I’ll start off by saying that I’m from Canada but currently live in Germany and every year I spend time in both of these countries. I also spent part of my childhood in America so most of my direct knowledge of parenting comes from my experience with these three countries. However, having travelled extensively prior to motherhood I couldn’t help but be aware of major differences in belief systems around raising children. For example, anyone who has spent time in Asia or Central America can’t help but notice a very different approach to parenting.

My goal for starting this website is to explore other ways of parenting and in the process find out where our own parental lore came from. Please feel free to suggest topics or pass on any thoughts you have on the subject. Thank you for participating.

The first weeks of a new baby

flanny — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:54:15 +0000

I was very curious to learn from a Macedonian friend that after a baby is born the parents are not supposed to have any visitors at home except immediate family for the first 40 days and he was quite shocked that his Canadian wife was inundated with visitors the first week she was home with the new baby. Traditionally this makes sense as obviously a new baby is more vulnerable to infection during it’s first few weeks and mothers need to spend this time bonding. In Germany they have the “Wochenbett” which my midwife explained to me really means spending the first week in bed with your baby. How is it in your culture, is mother and baby expected to rest at home the first weeks or are they out and about visiting right away?