July 30, 2006
Fear not: the dodo is not yet extinct. Fashionable babies in China still wear a piece of clothing called a dodo, which was long ago also worn by women, before bras were introduced. Now, babies of both genders wear the (usually) bright red single piece garment, which fits like a long bib from neck to thighs and ties at several places in the back. The color and patterns indicate a wish for a lucky future.
More common than the dodo on small children are two funny hair styles in which most of the head is shaved, except a small patch in the front or, if in the back, so a sort of pony tail is formed. They really look odd. Especially odd when the baby is excessively fawned over by two parents (and two sets of grandparents!), in what can be refered to as 'little Emperor syndrome'. This affliction is probably due to China's one-child policy, but leaves a nation of very spoiled children.
Leah is particularly taken with small children. I often look over at her and find her gazing and beaming at a small child, usually when I think she is listening to me. She waves. They wave and giggle. She waves.... She has managed to restrain herself from grabbing any of them, unlike last summer when I think she must have held half of Gambia's population below the age of 5 while on minibuses. But with only one child, Chinese parents are more protective of their children.
