[Ansteorra] Growing up within the society was Chilvary

[Susan]

Elizabetta of Rundel wrote:
>My son is always
>willing to assist me with our loads, and if I see
>someone whom he might also assist, i point them out to
>him and he normally is fully willing to go offer
>assistance, because he is naturally giving.

I will give the young man word fame (and I appoligize here for not
remembering names well, I think it is Antony), for he has been a very kind
and gracious young man at the things I have seen him at.  He is currently
our younger Children's Castellan and has spurred my dear daughter on to be
brave enough to participate in bardic this year which is an amazing
accomplishment.  I love to see such generosity and kindness in our youth.

>Perhaps
>we might set up a youth group setup where children
>learn the elements of chivalry... Although I have seen
>more of late, many of the events I have gone to do not
>have elements for children, except for things such as
>(I hate to call it this, but it is what it most
>closely resembles) glorified babysitting, where the
>kids sit around doing cutouts and basically non-SCA
>related things....  I am not cutting this type of
>thing, because it allows the parents to enjoy the
>event, but it would be more beneficial to the children
>if the childrens activities were more SCA related..

This is going to come from a different perspective as my kids were 8 and 12
when we started with the SCA.  One of the things that drew me so into the
family that is the SCA is the fact that my daughters are seen as people and
treated as equals as opposed to being shuffled off as children.  I love the
flexability that the society offers to include all and how it has many
places where everyone can find a place they fit.  With the formats that the
SCA offers, you can find situations where situations can be organized to
fit the interest level and needs of the learner.

As I said earlier, the ages of my kids color what I have found, as what is
needed in the younger ages can be different.  It has been a delight to get
to know several of our members who were raised in the SCA; Domique, Adena
and Kynea, and to have my daughters grow into such delightful women would
be an honor to me.  My girls have found the acceptance and belonging they
have within the SCA one of their favorite things in life, it has helped
them to become the delightful young ladies that they are.

Certain magical moments that come to mind are Larissa in her Queen of
Hearts outfit dancing through court handing out peacock feathers, Jason
charmingly addressing each young child who came to him on a quest and
finding the question on the page that he could answer, Baroness Catrin
enticing my oldest with Amber after she made the adult bardic final at her
first event and being hooked forever, Puck honoring my youngest for her
play at last year's Chess competition and Barn's making her a court addict
with his goodnaturedness while conducting court.

This reaffirmation by many of what this dream has been to you and how you
can continue to live it has been incredible, so much mail it will take me
awhile to get through them all.  This dream does draw and will continue to
burn and I hope that we can all find what it is that makes it a passion for
us and focus on that.  If everyone becomes engrossed in doing what they
love and being chivilrous to those they encounter otherwise, we should be
able to bring great joy to all.

Looking forward to Namron's Beltane where there should be much merriment
and fun,

Susan the Curious
Susan-the-Curious at swbell.net