ANST - Children

[Chris and Elisabeth Zakes]

At 10:15 AM 12/22/97 -0600, you wrote:
>While I'm on my soapbox......
>
>When we first started playing about 4 years ago, we had a 2 years old. When
>we went to fighter practice at the park, one of us was constantly looking
>out for her, while the other did what the other did. I had several people
>of the populace tell me "she'll be alright, everyone watches them"  I was
>appalled. how could I let total strangers watch my baby. Much less, why on
>earth would I just "Expect" them to???  well, I pretty much just shined
>that bit of advice on..... Even now, at events, I am just a-gog at the
>amount of children (we're talkin 3 or 4 to 7 or 8) just running wild. I
>didn't even bring my then 2 year old to events till she was 5....


We've raised 3 kids in the SCA, and you're right. Particularly with the
little ones (say, under 3 or 4) one of you needs to be on "kidwatch" pretty
much full-time. This will cause some significant adjustments to your
lifestyle, especially if you're both pretty active as fighters, heralds,
kitchen crew or whatever. It can also put a major dent in the late-night
partying <G>.


OTOH, I don't agree with leaving the kids at home. All three of ours were
going to events within days of their birth--it just takes a bit more
planning and patience. I've served feasts and done site-prep with a kid in
a backpack many times.



>I think the MoC is something every event needs. I Understand that some MoCs
>get abused. THEY ARE NOT THERE FOR YOUR BABYSITTING NEEDS!!!!!!. if you
>abuse them, they will not come back. The next time you "dump" your kid(s)
>at the MoC. Ask if you can come back and help her in a couple of hours, or
>pay attention to when she'll be done so you can pick up your kid(s). 


Absolutely. The MoC should be doing SCA-things with kids old enough to
handle themselves, *not* infants or toddlers. If you really need a
babysitter, bring/hire your own, or set up a co-op with other parents.


>Better yet, if you don't want to watch your own children at an
event...DON'T >BRING THEM!

Agreed.

	-Tivar Moondragon


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