Inspiration

Customs & Traditions

Stories about Customs & Traditions for mothers, parents and the people who love them.

4 stories

A dining table with a linen runner: white tulle pouches of sugared almonds tied with pink ribbon, a silver tray of lokum and crystal glasses of rose sherbet in afternoon light

Mevlit şekeri and tulle pouches: hosting a baby’s mevlit at home

Sugared almonds in tulle pouches, a tray of lokum, rose sherbet and a name on the nursery door. How my mother and Hamza Bera’s grandmother prepared his mevlit, who tied two hundred ribbons, and what I would tell a mother hosting one for the first time.

October 21, 2026 · 4 min read

A small linen-lined wooden box open by a window, a folded little envelope and a dried sprig of lavender inside, a glass of water and a muslin cloth beside it

Customs & Traditions

When the first milk tooth falls out: Turkish tooth customs, from the rooftop to a keepsake box

What did Turkish families do with a child’s first fallen milk tooth before the tooth fairy arrived — and what do they do now? The rooftop rhyme, the buried wish, and a small named box: what I learned from Süleyman Taha’s first tooth.

October 18, 2026 · 4 min read

A white tray of boiled wheat scattered with pomegranate seeds and walnuts on a wooden table, a small copper bowl and a linen napkin beside it

Customs & Traditions

Diş buğdayı: the Turkish first-tooth celebration, and a handful of wheat

In Anatolia a baby’s first tooth is celebrated with boiled wheat: neighbours are called, wheat is sprinkled over the baby’s head, and a row of objects is set out for them to reach for. At Muammer Esat’s diş buğdayı I found myself wondering where the custom comes from and what it still says to a mother today.

September 27, 2026 · 4 min read

A copper basin of water with forty small pebbles along its rim, beside a folded white baby gown and a red ribbon

Customs & Traditions

The first forty days: Türkiye’s oldest newborn customs, explained gently

A red ribbon on the door handle, a crimson sherbet for visitors, forty pebbles counted into a basin of water. In Anatolia a baby’s first forty days have always run on their own calendar. Where these customs come from, why families still keep them, and what a new mother — from here or elsewhere — can take from them.

August 23, 2026 · 4 min read