The first day of Tet is filled with laughter in a family of 11 daughters in Tay Ninh

A house with many children but Tet is always full

Mrs. Tran Thi Rac (77 years old, Gia Binh ward, Trang Bang town, Tay Ninh province) got married at the age of 19 and gave birth to 11 daughters.

Ms. Rac's husband, Mr. Duong Van Duc, passed away in 2019. Her eldest daughter also died of a serious illness.

Her daughters are married, 6 of whom live in the same commune and district as their mother. Currently, she lives with her youngest daughter and her husband and receives attentive care from her remaining children.

Despite her old age, Mrs. Rac's life is very active and happy. She likes to surf social networks and chat with her children.

Talking about Tet, Mrs. Rac proudly said: “My family has many children, but every year, the family has a full Tet. My husband and I own a tofu factory, so our income is stable.

On Tet holiday, we decorate the house and buy things for our children. Back then, I bought a whole piece of fabric at once to make 11 sets of clothes for my children.

All 11 children wore the same fabric and the same collared shirt. When they were older, they started making their own clothes according to their preferences.

With 11 daughters, Mrs. Rac is not afraid of not having enough “personnel” to clean the house during Tet. If the eldest daughter prepares the morning offerings, the second daughter cooks the afternoon offerings. The other daughters sweep the house, sweep the yard, do the laundry, wash the dishes, etc.

On New Year's Eve, she and her children wrap and cook banh tet. If they are busy with business, the whole family will wrap banh tet together on the second day of the Lunar New Year to celebrate on the third day of the Lunar New Year.

When the girls got boyfriends, Mrs. Rac's house became more bustling during Tet. The girls' boyfriends kept coming over to help clean and wish them a happy new year.

For over 50 years, Mrs. Rac's family has celebrated Tet in the old way. The whole family only celebrates for about 2-3 days, then returns to business.

Mrs. Rac said that the happiest day is the first day of Tet, when her 11 daughters gather to wish her a happy new year and receive lucky money from their mother. After getting married, the children follow the old tradition, returning with their husbands and children to visit and wish their mother a happy new year on the first day of Tet.

In previous years, Mrs. Rac was healthy and her children took her on spring outings. Now, she is old and just stays at home. Therefore, her Tet joy is wrapped up in the scene of family reunions and all her children and grandchildren coming home.

Spend the whole morning giving lucky money

Ms. Duong Thi Nhi (35 years old) is Mrs. Rac's youngest daughter. She said that although she has her own family, her sisters have never left their mother alone. Everyone takes turns taking care of her, worrying about her every meal and sleep.

“Currently, the total number of members in my family is 59. Apart from the 9th sister who lives abroad, the others are married near my mother's house.

Thanks to that, it is convenient for the sisters to visit their mother. During Tet, everyone does not have to worry about choosing between visiting the paternal or maternal home.

“The first day of the new year is always filled with laughter at my house. I am very grateful to my parents and proud to be a member of a blessed family,” Nhi shared.

This year, as usual, on the morning of the first day of Tet, Mrs. Rac's children and grandchildren dressed up beautifully and made an appointment to meet at their maternal grandparents' house. While waiting for everyone to arrive, they ate cakes and candies together, chatted animatedly and eagerly waited in line to receive lucky money.

“We lined up from oldest to youngest, wishing our mother a happy new year and giving her lucky money. Then she gave lucky money to all her children and grandchildren.

After the mother finished giving lucky money, the older sisters gave lucky money to their younger siblings and nieces. After the third sister and her husband gave lucky money to their younger sibling, it was the fourth sister and her husband's turn to give lucky money to their younger sibling. And so on, the adults took turns giving lucky money to the younger ones until all were gone.

In the end, everyone received quite a few lucky money envelopes, but the money was not much, mainly happiness and luck," Nhi said.

After the lucky money “show”, Mrs. Rac’s family had a vegetarian meal together. This is also a good tradition on the first day of Tet of her family.

While everyone was gathered around the dinner table, the lion dance team stopped by Mrs. Rac's house to perform. Everyone stopped their chopsticks to watch the lion dance and clapped their hands continuously in appreciation.

After that, everyone went to the temple together at the beginning of the year, praying for luck and peace. Before the children left home, Mrs. Rac advised everyone to take care of their health and focus on doing honest business in the new year.