Mia's Tol

This post is way past due, but it is definitely still worth posting.

Mia had her 1st birthday back in October and we had a big party to celebrate! It's a party she will never recall, but by the power of digital and film, hopefully she'll get an idea of how much fun it was!

In Korea, a child's first birthday, or "tol", is a pretty big deal. To celebrate, friends and family gather together to eat and observe an elaborate ceremony featuring the little one.

For Mia's tol, we dressed her in traditional Korean clothing and simplified the ceremony, or "toljabee".



A toljabee is a table ceremony in which certain items symbolic of a child's future are placed on a table. The child is then placed at the table in front of the items and depending on which item the child picks, is believed to be a predictor of the child's future. Typical items placed on the table include:

- bow and arrow: the child will become a warrior (not really applicable for this time period)
- needle and thread: the child will live long
- jujube: the child will have many descendants
- book, pencil, or related items: the child will become a successful scholar
- money: the child will become rich
- ruler, needle, scissors: the child will be talented with his/her hands
- knife: the child will be a good cook


We had a tol for Kimball too and he picked the thread, symbolic of longevity. Here's a video of what Mia picked:



Mia couldn't really figure out why we were clapping for her and looked to mom for an explanation, but I think she eventually caught on that she just did something way too cute and totally awesome. She picked the pencils meaning she'll be smart and educated. Every year my parents always hope the kids will choose the money...maybe the next one.

We had a big party with a ton of traditional Korean dishes and an over abundance of cake and rice cake. The cake we got from Costco and the rice cake, which weighed about 30-lbs. we got from the Korean store of course.




And little Mia with her dairy-free diet, got a cupcake all to herself. Lucky little girl.


It was so much fun and really, the best part of the party was the ceremony. It's so fun to see what the kid picks and then to just kind of believe that that's how their future could turn out. I wonder what I picked when I was that age, a question to ask the parents I suppose.

Another key moment of the weekend was this little clip I happened to catch of my dad. Our house was overrun with children and I think by the end, my dad was just pooped. He's pretty much just holding a pink balloon. (Sorry it's sideways, but after 10-seconds, I turn the camera to get the right angle.)