What happens when a seemingly ordinary child decides to devote their life to the Middle Ages? Ken Mondschein offers parents a survival guide for life with a budding medievalist.
By Ken Mondschein
This pamphlet is intended for parents of those students who have decided to major in some aspect of medieval studies. It is to, firstly, express our condolences, and, secondly, give you some useful tips for adjusting to your family’s new reality.
You may observe changes in your child’s behavior, such as a certain Latinate grandiosity in their locution. It is best to ignore this.
Your child may begin to hang out with a new crowd of friends and express an interest in new hobbies such as “brewing mead” and “learning Welsh.” Do not be alarmed. These hobbies are mostly harmless, though you may need to clean up sticky honey residue and discarded vowels from time to time.
If your child begins to talk at great length about a subject of interest, such as the Investiture Controversy or Margery Kempe, do not interrupt them. Do not ask for clarifying details, such as what “Lollards” are or who “Matilda of Tuscany” is. Do not look them directly in the eyes. Most especially, do not ask them, or allow well-meaning adults to ask them, “So what are you going to do with that?”
Above all else, do not turn your child’s bedroom into that sewing room or home office that you planned. They will need it when they return home for an indefinite period after graduation, or until they finally get into graduate school.
Also keep their bedroom intact for after graduate school.
Remember above all else that your child’s medievalism has nothing to do with anything you did or did not do. As far as we can tell, medievalism is an inherent disposition caused by genetics and/or prenatal exposure to environmental factors. It is not your fault, even if you brought them to one or more Renaissance fair(e)s, let them watch all three Lord of the Rings movies back-to-back as many times as they wanted, or even, God forbid, brought them up High Church Episcopalian.
Ken Mondschein is an unemployed scholar and certified fencing master. Having worked at, and subsequently been fired from, most of the third-tier colleges in New England, Ken now conducts his research entirely outside the higher education industry. Ken’s latest book is On Time: A History of Western Timekeeping. Click here to visit his website.
What happens when a seemingly ordinary child decides to devote their life to the Middle Ages? Ken Mondschein offers parents a survival guide for life with a budding medievalist.
By Ken Mondschein
This pamphlet is intended for parents of those students who have decided to major in some aspect of medieval studies. It is to, firstly, express our condolences, and, secondly, give you some useful tips for adjusting to your family’s new reality.
You may observe changes in your child’s behavior, such as a certain Latinate grandiosity in their locution. It is best to ignore this.
Your child may begin to hang out with a new crowd of friends and express an interest in new hobbies such as “brewing mead” and “learning Welsh.” Do not be alarmed. These hobbies are mostly harmless, though you may need to clean up sticky honey residue and discarded vowels from time to time.
If your child begins to talk at great length about a subject of interest, such as the Investiture Controversy or Margery Kempe, do not interrupt them. Do not ask for clarifying details, such as what “Lollards” are or who “Matilda of Tuscany” is. Do not look them directly in the eyes. Most especially, do not ask them, or allow well-meaning adults to ask them, “So what are you going to do with that?”
Above all else, do not turn your child’s bedroom into that sewing room or home office that you planned. They will need it when they return home for an indefinite period after graduation, or until they finally get into graduate school.
Also keep their bedroom intact for after graduate school.
Remember above all else that your child’s medievalism has nothing to do with anything you did or did not do. As far as we can tell, medievalism is an inherent disposition caused by genetics and/or prenatal exposure to environmental factors. It is not your fault, even if you brought them to one or more Renaissance fair(e)s, let them watch all three Lord of the Rings movies back-to-back as many times as they wanted, or even, God forbid, brought them up High Church Episcopalian.
Ken Mondschein is an unemployed scholar and certified fencing master. Having worked at, and subsequently been fired from, most of the third-tier colleges in New England, Ken now conducts his research entirely outside the higher education industry. Ken’s latest book is On Time: A History of Western Timekeeping. Click here to visit his website.
Click here to read more from Ken Mondschein
Top Image: Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Français 22531 fol 99v
Subscribe to Medievalverse
Related Posts