One topic, one page
The first birthday
Gifts, keepsakes and stories for the baby who is turning one.
- Gift guideFirst birthday gifts: what to give a one-year-old (and the parents who got them there)A first birthday is really the parents’ first year. Here is how to choose a gift that survives the toy pile, keeps its meaning years later, and a few practical notes for the party itself.
- StoryDiş buğdayı: the Turkish first-tooth celebration, and a handful of wheatIn 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.
- StoryWhen the first milk tooth falls out: Turkish tooth customs, from the rooftop to a keepsake boxWhat 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.
- StoryCandlelight evenings: the small flame that turns a flat into a homeOur first winter in İstanbul, with the boxes still unpacked, I lit a candle and the flat felt like ours for the first time. Why candle-making has moved into everyone’s kitchen, and what one small flame does to an evening.
- StoryThe sewing machine is back — and it was never just a hobbySewing classes in Dublin sell out months ahead, New York declares sewing “cool again”, and across Türkiye the old Singers are coming down from the attic. What’s behind the quiet comeback — and where does a new mother find room for it?