Childer

A childer is a person who has decided to have a child with another person. Childing is a major challenge in the hana adventure. After spending some time carouseling (it coudl be several yeas or as short as a few months) a hana will tire of the constant whirl of parties and excursions and find someone also willing to take a few years off and have a baby. They may also choose to do this if they need a karma boost to qualify for their chosen terton posting. They will cehck out their genetic makeup for compatibility and consanguinity (as there are no family names it is difficult to work this out without looking at the DNA).

Doula Call
Once two people are clear in their minds that they want to exchange gametes, they will jointly issue a doula call on the foam. Senior tertons, usually in their fifties, who feel they could use some time back in the comfort of the Green Zone, will usually sign up to be doulas. Since the tertons who watch their feed are usually relatives or close brooders, the doulas are most likely going to be well known to the concerned childer, but comparative strangers may be included if they have skills or personalities well liked by the childers. The childers have veto power over the doula selection, and can send away any doula at any time if they feel the doula is not behaving and has ignored warnings. Either childer can veto any of the other's doulas if they so choose. This is one of the instances where juniors can give orders to seniors.

Earthtouch Party
Once the party is complete it is called a childeria. Since traditionally childerias were assembled in the Astrocities, ie in space, the party they throw to get acquainted with one another is called an Earthtouch Party, even if they actually are on Earth. Since the doulas of the two sides may not necessarily know each other very well, this is an important social occasion. The childeria plays games and scrollplays to get to know each other and build trust and teamwork. Dissent and discord between doulas is viewed very seriously, so they all make a sincere effort to get on.

Important business at this stage includes choosing a basha, and the Earthtouch Party, which can go on for several days, typically includes a deliberation session where candidates for childing basha are put forward and discussed. These have to be Full Circle bashas in the Green Zone. Once again, childers have veto power, but the advice of doulas is never taken lightly since they know more about the bashas, and have access to confidential information about them. Doulas take pride in choosing suitable bashas for their childeria. The process of basha choice also gives childers an opportunity to see how well their team functions together, and perhaps identify possible problem interactions between incompatibles.

Life in the Circle of Love
The childeria now travels at its leisure to the chosen basha, Once there, tehy are welcomed by existing bashindas, and they set up in the Circle of Love, the closest living area to the Hub. The childers get fully floated retreat rooms of their own inside the Circle, while the doulas get accommodation in the doula stacks by the Gamester warrens around the edge of the circle. An orber will take up the task of preparing their embryos by the Pushpa-Pia Process. Many other childerias occupy the Circle of Love and there are no boundaries or territories between them. The birth of the child is a public event of great significance. Anyone can attend, but only the doulas can assist. Children are encouraged to witness births. They are considered to play a special role during birth, calling the new child to come and play with them. Since the actual delivery takes place in the pool, they do not see too much gore.

Once the children are born, the doulas take turns to be on duty looking after the childers. A typical scehdule involves four hour stints every three days: the rest of the time doulas are free to pursue their own projects. The childer's only duty is to feed children, her own or others' with her breasts, on demand. She may take time off to be alone with the baby when feeding, or she will incorporate feeding times into her social time, with feeding chidlers sitting in a circle and talking as they feed. Or she can continue to work while feeding. All other child-related tasks are performed by the doulas, who also take care of the childers themselves, bringing them food and fresh clothes, fetching and carrying for them. This is the only time when senior people minister to the needs of juniors, which is one reason why hanas are so eager to child; it is like a holiday in preparation for the often gruelling and hazardous work of tertonhood. The doulas, who have either completed or are in the process of completing their own terton adventures, are full of stories about what they have seen and done, and the telling these stories to the younger people is also an important part of the childing process. Doulas may significantly influence hanas' decisions as to how they will spend their terton years.

Weaning, Go Games and Second Thola Party
Doulas may also comfort-feed babies, and those who have already had children may even start to lactate again. After about six months, breast milk is supplemented by hard rusks, which babies are encouraged to chew. No soft food is given as it is thought to encourage biting the nipple: babies are taught that only hard things should be bitten, and this also helps them develop strong teeth. Once the child is a year old, various foods will be given, though nursing continues on demand. For two-year-olds, feeding at the breast helps them get over the 'terrible twos'.

Most children bond more with their doulas than their biological parents, who are almost like their sibllings. TAs teh child grows, she starts to explore the various interactive toys and mazes of the Circle of Love. None of these toyas are virtual at this stage; they are all real. Once a child is walking and talking, she will be taken for short visits with her doulas to her elder brooders in the gamefields. Initinally she will stay in her doulas' arms and watch them play on the laminar 3D gamefields, but as she grows she may participate for short periods, under the guidance of a gamester. This also exposes her to pathogens form teh older chidlren and doglas, which is thoghtto be necessary to build up her immunity, and her continued breastfeeding helps her generate the requisite antibodies. Various milestones are noted: when she goes on the kiddie airwalks, when she refuses to give up the gamefileds, and all these indicators show her progress towards weaning. The gamefields are powerful incentives to 'grow up' and eventually forsake the breast. Around the age of four ro five, but it could be as early as three or as late as seven, when the child decides she wants to be a gamester, and the doulas and childers are ssatisfied that she is ready, her Go Games ceremony will be celebrated, where she wows her childeria with her game prowess. After this, her childer is free to go and choose her terton-life, but some fo the doulas will stay and continue to look after the child. The childer's friends will throw a Thola Party for her on her departure.