Stepping Up in House Scriptoria

My dear Miril --      I was delighted to receive your gracious letter -- though there was no need to thank us for hosting you; quite the opposite! -- and as our rather old-fashioned mode of traiing children seems to have caught your interest, of course I am pleased to outline it for you.      Your visit coincided with the end Avarun's Stepping Up week and his feast.  Well, I must say he made a fairly good showing.  Thankfully there were no disasters, or emergencies, or dramatic and unforeseen events -- between you and I, Avarun tends to be a trifle anxious and over-excitable.  Easily flustered.  However.  I digress.      Our family has been, for several generations now, in the business of making books.  And, as you know, while any given book sells for quite a high price, it takes so long to produce one, and requires such specialized skills, that really it would be foolish to allow our livelihood to depend upon the book sales of any given year.  So, while officially we are a family of bookmakers, unofficially we are small-scale farmers, amateur herbalists, jacks-of-all-trades, and tutors for hire.  And our children, once grown, must be able to oversee and manage the farm and gardens; the kitchens; the household, stores, nursery and infirmary (which is often, thankfully, unoccupied maintenance and repair of the buildings and grounds; schedules for the tutors; collection and preservation of herbs and minerals for healing and for ink-making; purchase of skins and processing of the parchment; care of the library; and, of course, production of the books themselves in the scriptorium.       When a child reaches the fourth year of life (or, as your people style it, "turns three") we begin training her to simply be helpful and polite in each of these several spheres.  All of the children are quite at home in the kitchens, as one would expect; most of them detest the smell of the parchment sheds; and nearly each one will upend a bottle of ink over a just-finished page of writing at some point.  Over the next few years the child will learn to be safe and non-disastrous in the house; the outbuildings & barns; the gardens & kennel & wooded fields where we go gathering; the sheds where the parchment and inks are finished; and the scriptorium itself.       At the beginning of the seventh year of life, the child begins to "work" in each ares for a season or so.  We begin with a short period of chores after the child's breakfast and gradually extend the time of work so that by the end of his twelfth year he is working for about an hour each day.  In addition, of course, to the usual studies and time for play and for general daily chores.       In this way every child learns the essential work of the entire House.      The thirteenth year is the time (we believe) to train the child in leadership, in helping manage other people.  For example: in the scrpitorum the young person begins to help plan the day's work; lay in necessary supplies; requisition lamps, ink, parchment, and oils against shortages; and proof the written pages -- all while continuing to learn to do the actual work of copying.  And when we have someone in the infirmary who needs care, the young person continues to develop skill in the art of nursing while also learning how to hire and supervise the doctor, and how to organize the re-entry of the invalid into the daily life of the House.       Establishing each child as a manager at such a young age has the salutary effect of forcing them to lead with some degree of winsome charm.  For they are much too young to impress or to intimidate.       It is sometime in the sixteenth year that our young ones Step Up into the responsibilities of an adult, and are given a voice in our assembly.  When all of the adults (that is to say, everyone in the assembly who is currently in residence) agree, the young one chooses a week in which they shall be given charge of the House entire.  Your delightful visit happened to come at the end of Avarun's Stepping Up.  I must say, he did a fine job of hosting, and he seems to have handled the packing and delivery of your books quite satisfactorily, yes?  And of course one marvelous benefit of managing a person's coming-of-age this way is that the young one is responsible for planning and managing the feast that concludes the week.  All that is left for us older folks to do is supervise the youngest generation in the cleaning-up!       Now, I must confess that occasionally the Stepping-Up does not go well.  In such cases, the young one has a year to re-train and make a better job of it.  And I do not recall any case in which a child who wanted to be part of the House failed to, sooner or later, Step Up.       Naturally there are some children who find their paths diverge from that of the House and lead them elsewhere.  But that is a book unto itself!  Or, at the very lest, a letter for another time.       Be well, my friend, until we meet again!  And ever after, too.       Yours,      Sandsdotter Ingre