[Ansteorra] OT?: SCA baby

[Susan McMahill]

My son was older when we started with the SCA, but there is one thing I have thought of while watching parents of young children at events. Hire a 'nurse' or 'governess' for the event. It is perfectly 'period' to have someone else to assist with the care of young children so that in the event that mom and/or dad want/need to be somewhere, their child/ren are being cared for by someone they know and trust. I see plenty of tweens and teens wandering about looking bored. Perhaps there is one in your group that wouldn't mind earning a few pence or a bauble or trinket for babysitting for part or all of the event. If you have a non-SCA babysitter that you trust, perhaps paying their site fee and providing them with a t-tunic or something in the line of garb in addition to some compensation would entice them to help you out at an event. I know it's an added expense, but it's worth a thought as well as piece of mind and less frayed nerves.
 
Lyneya



> Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:49:28 -0500> From: kitharis at gmail.com> To: ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org> Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] OT?: SCA baby> > The best advice I can give is: children of active SCA folks should go to> events. At any age. If you leave them at home with babysitters all the time,> they'll never learn what the SCA is all about, and they may learn that the> parents care more about events than about the children. (You know you're in> the SCA when you teach your daughter how to peel a potato safely by telling> her, "Hold it like a crossbow!")> > You've probably already realised that even one child can double the amount> of stuff you take to events.> > When you go to events and the children are small, one of you should be with> the child as much as possible. This means you'll probably have to work out> who gets to do what at an event. When Tivar and I were both fighting, we'd> decide who was going to fight that event, or make sure that one of us was> off the field while the other was on it. Sometimes I'd run a list with the> baby at my side while he was fighting or marshalling. Sometimes he'd be the> baby-tender while I ran around as deputy steward or head cook or something.> You just learn to take turns so no one gets shorted on what they want to do.> If you're a single parent (which includes parents where the other half> doesn't go to events), try a cooperative with other parents or single> parents. Group parenting, if you have the same ideas about child-raising, is> wonderful, and the kids have companions.> > Get a body-harness leash for the toddlers, especially for large events like> Gulf War. You'll probably get some grief about it, but the value of being> able to ensure your child cannot disappear in the blink of an eye is> incalculable. The child feels a lot of freedom, being able to explore a bit,> and you have control over the child's distance from you. You also know the> child cannot slip between two people and vanish.> > Have a patch with your arms on it applied to the child's clothing, perhaps> with your name embroidered on it as well. If the child cannot remember your> SCA name(s), anyone even remotely adept at heraldry can match the arms to> the banner at your campsite or pavilion.> > There are plenty of wooden toys that will do for "period" looking. Try to> keep the modern stuff in camp, though that won't always be possible. I've> seen nice wagons you can give them rides in (and kids love helping out on an> ice run!).> > I'm sure others will think of more things.> > Aethelyan Moondragon> Bryn Gwlad> > On 7/10/07, Natasha Brown <texas_roberttash at yahoo.com> wrote:> >> > Those with advice please do post. I am returning to the SCA with a wife> > and 1 yr old I didn't have when I played before and have been trying to> > muddle through the whole baby at an event thing myself.> >> > Thank you,> > Gorm> >> >> > ---------------------------------> > Don't pick lemons.> > See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos.> > _______________________________________________> > Ansteorra mailing list> > Ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org> > http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ansteorra-ansteorra.org> >> _______________________________________________> Ansteorra mailing list> Ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ansteorra-ansteorra.org