SC - Kids and feasts

[WOLFMOMSCA at aol.com]

Thorbjorn:

I've done feasts in a million different ways.  I can but give you my
expereiences and let you make up your own mind.  One caveat:  If this is the
first time you've been the Kitchen Steward, keep it simple for the sake of
your own sanity.  

Separate table(s) for those feasting with young ones:  The adults were, for
the most part, miffed at being unable to sit with their households and/or
friends.  I took too much heat for this little experiment, so I didn't do it
again.

Earlier easting time for the young ones:  This one was more successful.  The
kids were fed a variety of mundane comfort foods (hot dogs, hamburgers, and
homemade macaroni & cheese), along with selections from the regular feast
menu.  They were allowed to choose whatever they wanted to eat, the parents
went along with this splendidly.  There was also a special children's activity
area with supervision after they ate, which lasted through the duration of the
adult feast afterwards.  This works well as long as you have something for the
kids to do after they've eaten.  We had the parents provide bedding, in case
they wanted their kids to go nitey-nite before the feast was over.

Optional kids menu served during regular feast:  One server was assigned to
trot around the hall, asking parents with children whether this option was
preferable to the regular feast.  I did this twice, and never had a parent
take me up on it.  By and large, they either fed their kids from the regular
feast, or had already provided their own options in case Junior turned up his
nose at the funny-looking meat thing.  :=)

Seating by precedence:  Did this ONCE!  What a nightmare!  Herald was run
ragged, trying to discover who was who, and where they stood in the Order of
Precedence.  Royalty was not pleased about having their High Table seating
invitations questioned by "some lackey from the feastie-beastie".  Populace
was less than amused by the fact that seating took over an hour.  Duke Joe,
who is not on speaking terms with Duke Jim, but precedence seated them next to
each other.   Neither one enjoyed feast at all, and harangued the Kitchen
Steward during the cleanup phase about "who's insane idea was it to sit me
next to that raving loon?"   It was a BAD idea.  Very BAD.  There were two
couples who actually decided against going to feast when they found out they'd
be seated by precedence.  They hated the very idea of being told who they were
going to feast with, regardless of how they felt about said personages.  Some
words were said about the autocrat taking her job title WAY too seriously.
The hall atmosphere was uncomfortable for the length of the feast.  The Hall
Steward, during the post mortem, said he'd prefer not to be a cat herder,
since the job was oxymoronic in the extreme.

Lower high table for those of peerage rank:  This one worked better.  Royal
peers were asked how many seats their "household" required for feast.  These
seats were reserved, in descending order of pecedence, down the left side fo
the hall.  Ordered peers were asked the same, and their spaces were reserved
down the right side of the hall.  This system allowed the peers to sit with
their own retainers/apprentices/squires/householders, as they would sit at
feast under normal circumstances.  It worked well at a local event with only
four or five peers in attendance.  It was more of a headache when it was
attempted at a Kingdom event, with twelve peers on-site for feast.  The basic
gripe seemed to be that pointy hats really didn't like being told what to do.
Since I only heard one actual whine, I consider the experiment to have been
successful.  ;=)

Walk in peace,
Wolfmother
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