I love having a multicultural family. I love seeing my daughter exploring both of our cultures and creating her own mix. Beyond teaching her my language, raising my daughter as a multicultural child means to me making sure she’s exposed to and embraces both mine and my husband’s culture.
It’s one of the main reasons we’re planning to move back to Côte d’Ivoire.
But since we’re still here, in the US, (more on that in another blog post), I’m making sure we’re creating family traditions that work for our multicultural family now.
The significance of Naw Ruz, the Baha’i New Year
As some of you may already know, I’m Baha’i. As Bahais, our holiday season falls between February and March. In February, we have the festival of Ayyamiha or Intercalary Days which are days of celebration, service and gift giving.
These days are followed by the Baha’i fast, which lasts 19 days and ends with the Baha’i New year, also called Naw-Ruz!
Naw-Ruz is originally Zoroastrian tradition celebrating the coming of Spring and the renewal of life. The Baha’i faith is originally from Iran, where Naw-Ruz is widely celebrated, and thus inherited this New Year tradition. For Baha’is, the celebration represents a spiritual renewal, the beginning of a new cycle. It’s a happy occasion that we celebrate with prayers and joyful gatherings.
Celebrating Ayyamiha and Naw-Ruz with my daughter is important to me because I want her to have those traditions, those landmarks, those special memories in a world that is completely centered around The Gregorian calendar.
Because the Baha’i celebration of Naw-Ruz has no ritual attached to it, Baha’i believers are completely free to create their own celebration and traditions. This is very liberating but also can seem a bit overwhelming.
To manage the overwhelm, I keep things simple. Our multicultural family is part of a small local Baha’i community so we don’t always have big celebrations and that’s ok.
You don’t have to always have a huge celebration to mark special occasions. You can keep things simple and just make sure you incorporate elements that are important to you and your family in your celebration, big or small.
So here are 5 ways I encourage my daughter to embrace her multicultural life and creatively celebrate the Baha’i New year with her.
5 simple ways to create traditions for your multicultural family
Cooking together
Cooking is a great way to bond with my girl and mark a special occasion by making something special.
For the Baha’i New year, I made some cookies last year in the shape of the 9-pointed star, which is the symbol of the Baha’i faith.
This year, we’ll be making a yogurt cake. I found the recipe on the website Les gourmandises de Karel, and tweaked it a little bit to make it a lemon yogurt cake.
I’m also planning to make the cookies again with her, because they are so fun to make especially when we use the Cookies cut out to shape them into stars.
I used a sugar cookie recipe found then used the cookie cutter set I bought online from Baha’i resources.
Another way to celebrate your special occasion is to cook with your child a typical meal from your culture for that day. It will encourage your child to learn about your culture in a fun and hands-on way. Just make sure you keep things simple, manage your expectations and give age appropriate tasks in the kitchen! You want everyone involved to have a great experience so that it’s something that the whole family looks forward to each year.
Personally, I’m not cooking Ivorian meals with my little one just yet but maybe in the future or when we move to Côte d’Ivoire.
Doing something special as a multicultural family
Last year for Ayyam-I-Ha we, my husband, the girl and I, went out for ice cream. It was a big deal for her because we rarely do that. It was a way for me to mark a special occasion.
Find something that’s special to your child and do it only on special occasions. Make sure you tell them what the occasion is and wish them a happy one; like Happy Ayyamiha ! Happy Year of the Tiger! Eid Mubarak! And as their understanding allows, explain to them what the celebration is about.
Reading books about your multicultural celebration
We read books about Naw-Ruz and Ayyamiha. I made sure I have several books on the topics of Baha’i celebrations and always encourage my Baha’i friends to offer the girl Baha’i books if they ask.
Picking books that are at the appropriate level for your child can be a great help for them to visualize what the special occasion is about. If you have a little one, describe to them what is happening in the book and encourage them to ask questions or describe what they see themselves. Then during the celebration, you can refer to the stories you read together.
Here are some books about different religious celebrations:
Observing the fast and celebrating Naw Ruz around the world
The animals of the Chinese New Year
Giving small gifts to mark a cultural occasion
I give her gifts. But we keep it pretty simple. They are usually books or drawing supplies. Although last year, she received a doll.
Ayyam-I-Ha is a gift-giving celebration although the focus is not on that specific aspect. But Naw Ruz isn’t, yet I’m still planning to give her some books to celebrate.
Giving small gifts can be a way to make the occasion extra special, especially when you « compete » with Christmas and your child sees their friends receive all kinds of gifts. It can also be a good opportunity to explain to your child that the most important thing isn’t the amount of gifts but the intention behind a gift. We’re not there yet with my girl. So for now, she’s just super excited to receive her simple gifts.
Some examples of simple gifts for your multicultural child:
- Books about the occasion you celebrate or about your culture in general.
- Games to help them learn about your culture through play.
- If you’re lucky to live in a big city that hosts concerts of artists from around the world, you could get tickets for an artist from your country.
- Ethnic dolls.
Meeting with friends
Although COVID has limited the possibilities for social gatherings, meeting with friends or hosting a party is another great way to celebrate your special occasion. Last year, we met as a small group of Baha’i friends at a restaurant to celebrate. This year, with restrictions easing up, I’d love for us to have a bigger celebration, meeting in a park, if the weather allows it for a potluck and some games.
You can also meet at a restaurant serving your home country food.
Create a special playlist for your multicultural tradition
Music is a great way to connect your child to your culture.
My girl and I always listen to Baha’i music when I drop her to school. That’s our little routine. We have our Baha’i Music playlist.
Just like everyone knows that starting November, Christmas music begins being on rotation on the radio. And everyone associates Christmas music with, well, Christmas; curating a special playlist for your celebration, one that you come back to every year, can help create a family tradition. It can make the occasion special for you and your little one!
I hope you and your multicultural family find joy in celebrating your special occasions! And remember, it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Let me know some of your family traditions by sending me an email to backtotheotherland@gmail.com or a DM on Instagram @backtotheotherland!
See you next time, and until then happy Naw Ruz to all!
