Get your own Free Home PageTHERE IS THIS about children: anyone who is a parent has at least one. There is also this about children: their group badge is very probably vert, enthusiasm rampant, not too proper. For which we can all be grateful. Ideally, the SCA should be a family activity. There ought to be something for everyone, and everyone ought to be welcome. Children can add a lot to an event; an encampment is more realistic (and somehow more right) with kids around. But unhappy, undisciplined, noisy or crying children can totally ruin an event for their parents and everyone else. Many of you, though, are new to the Society, and it has been, thus far, all you could manage to be "in period" yourselves. This article is for you--to show you how easy, inexpensive, and enjoyable it can be to have true Current Middle Ages children.
CLOTHES
I have found it most advisable to dress all children in the truly medieval fashion: in layers. A light bottom garment, over which one places a heavier overgarment, over which goes a cloak or pinned on blanket, is best. That way, they can remove what is too much as the day goes on, or add as evening falls and it gets colder. It seems to make it simpler for them to handle the whole operation themselves--which makes it all much more pleasant for you, too.
TOYS
Clothing a child properly is a waste of time if he or she then sits in the middle of the encampment playing with a plastic truck or a Barbie doll. Toys can be period, too. Blocks, hobbyhorses, wooden animals, rag dolls--all are easy to find. Children have enjoyed these things for hundreds of years! Furthermore, such toys can often be homemade. What better gift for SCA parents than period toys for their offspring? And, for you artisan types, there's a possibility for a very salable item. Toy weapons fall into a slightly different category. They're a good idea, if only to give the kids something of their own to keep them away from other people's! And a junior sword fight is cute. But you should give soft foam or plastic weapons here, rather than wood, at least for those ten and under. Children don't pull their blows.
FOOD
The sandwich was invented in 1762 by the Earl of Sandwich (for which, reasonably enough, it was named), when he refused to leave his gambling table for nearly twenty four hours, even though he had the munchies. The sandwich has enjoyed a royal but dubious reputation ever since. It is not ' in period". Many foods are. (Children lived through the original Middle Ages rather well--at least in noble circles.) If you are making a roast (beef, chicken, ham, lamb, whatever), cut off slices for der kinder. Same with sausage. Get a wedge of cheese and hand out chunks of it. Hard boiled eggs travel well, and are easy to carry around and eat. Same with cookies and cupcakes. (Note: cupcakes with icing are definitely not period. The basic medieval sweetener was honey. Cane sugar was very rare and expensive; a rich man might have a piece of candy once a year. Beet sugar was unknown until the eighteenth century. ) Remember, children love to decorate. Let yours arrange a platter of meat or cheese, a salad, a dessert. It'll keep them happily busy, feeling more a part of the pre tourney work-- and out of your hair while you're making your preparations. In short, feed your children what you eat; if you expect them to like it, they will. So they'll not only be more in period (and, as a result, feel more a part of the SCA), they'll be more civilized. And isn't that a nice thought?
BEHAVIOR
Any child old enough to walk is old enough to learn a few basics. First, and most important: NEVER stray onto the field at a tourney. Your 16 month old can't remember that? Perhaps not, but he can learn to freeze every time hears "HOLD!" "Hold" is the word marshals use to stop fighters. It is the word almost every long time SCA member uses to stop anyone. Use it when you're on the sidewalk, and your child runs ahead to the curb. Use it when he chases the cat. Use it when he reaches for your very expensive perfume. Use it when that glass of milk is being put only halfway onto the table. Use it all the time; children learn fast, and it could prevent a serious injury. (Fighters often have no peripheral vision at all inside their helms; it is up to the marshals and spectators at a fight to watch out. Small children are often invisible until too late. This means yours. ) The other important rules for children involve courtesy; in other words, they are the same rules as for adults. Simple things, like "Don't enter other people's pavilions or touch other people's things without asking." In the Society, this becomes vital, as "things" might be very sharp swords, or very excitable falcons. And "Curtsey or bow to the King and Queen, especially when crossing in front of the throne." In all, "Try to behave in a ladylike or gentlemanly fashion."
With any luck at all, these suggestions may help your children to be as active in the SCA as you are, and to enjoy it, perhaps, even more. Luck to you, lords and ladies, and all of it good.
This article is reprinted from Tournaments Illuminated #36. The author was Chatelaine of the West when it was written. Rae Montor is a writer and photographer
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