Re: Re: Children's magic

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 22:46:01 -0800

> I always figured it was in part because there's so much work to do
> that the adult males (or females, though I'm less familiar with their
> rites) could no afford to all drop what they're doing for several
> weeks very often.
>
> Besides, who says that late teenagers don't work?

Heck, *all* the kids work - there are chickens to feed and eggs to collect, milking and sheepherding, cleaning the house & mucking out stables, watching the younger siblings and such. There is *too much* work to let a quarter of the population do *nothing*. There isn't school to go to (other than what mom, dad, and your aunts, uncles and grandparents teach you on-the-job), no hanging out at the mall or sleepovers with your buddies. Initiation is a special time, but a single stead doesn't have enough kids to initiate every year - there are rites to perform, weeks of effort and, of course, a feast afterwards...

RR