Kochan

Kochan is the First Adventure of life, from birth to weaning, ie till about age five or six. Kochans live in the Circle of Love where their childers and doulas look after them.

Birth
A kochan is watched and becomes familiar to her carers from the moment of conception via her childer's sentinel. She will also be assigned an orber to look after her health with weekly checkups. People all over the foam can watch her grow and develop, provided the childer allows access to the feed. It's considered impolite to watch a kochan feed without leaving a comment or a few words fo encouragement to the childer. While the child is growing, the childer is pampered and cossetted by her ten doulas, who bring her food, walk with her and keep her entertained. Since the childer has just left off carouselling, she still has close ties with many friends out on the Zero Margins, and she keeps them closely updated on her progress. Most childers remember their pregnancy as one of the most fun times in their life.

As the time of birth approaches, the sentinel feed starts to darken, suggesting that pressure is building up and birth is imminent. Before the feed goes, a last check is made that all is well. If it is not, the orber will reach in and perform some delicate readjustments. When the sentinel cuts out, there are only hours left. The childer then takes up her vigil in the Place of Beginning. Children come to see her and talk to the child in her stomach, telling her about their wonderful games and toys and beseeching her to come out and play with her. Gifts and food are beautifully arranged to tempt her out. As labour begins, the Place hushes. The doulas gather round. They take turns to support her. The rule is that once labour begins, no one must speak but the childer giving birth, unless she asks a question in which case they must reply promptly. The only sound is a very soft birth chant that the spectator keep up among themselves, timing it to the contractions. The birther is allowed to go at her own pace and decide what help she needs and when. The atmosphere is one of shared meditation. As the last stage begins, she gets in the tub, along with whoever is going to help her. Kochans are born into a 'cradle of hands': in other words, hands cover the birther's belly at all times, giving her something to push against, and the child is received carefully into the water. She is immediately placed in her birther's arms and the milk-latch is made. This completes the circuit; the birther is 'giving the milk back' and birth is not thought ot be complete without this. The placenta is delivered without drama, using massage and breast feedign to persuade it out, and is immediatley achived by the orber for its stem cells. This placental source will be used to heal the child until she begins menstruating and has stem cells of her own.

Feeding
The childers' prime task is to feed babies; the doulas do every thing else, washing, dressing, playing and lulling. Childers are welcome to participate in these activitiesdress and play with their kids also but they are not responsible and can stop at any time; their first priority after feeding is their work, and they often breastfeed while working or thinking, or in between bouts of work. Since the breasts are connected to the heart chakra, their use is related to generosity, contribution, building things and team spirit, and a lactating childer is thought to embody these virtues. Sometimes doulas who give the child the dry breast for comfort will also spontaneously lactate, especially if they have had several children during their own childer days. The kochans will be fed by any childer or doula who is free and has milk, and thus they drink in a large variety of antibodies. They nurse on demand and no baby is ever denied a feed or a hug. When not feeding, the really small babies sleep in slings on the backs or chests of their doulas or childers. There is a certain amount of friendly competition to hold a child, but there is also a roster to decide who gets precedence at any moment if there is disagreement. Doulas are bound by the roster but childers are not; however, if they consistently fail to feed any baby (it need not be their own every time) they may be given a shamesticky, and in this context a shamesticky is very shaming indeed. Babies get karma for being fed, and for excreting. As they are toilet-trained, they get extra karma for going in the right places at the right times. By the time they are six to nine months old their feeds are supplemented with iron bscuits which they are encouraged to chew to make their teeth come.Solid food is slowly introduced, but it is usually chewy and hard: no pap is given. The only liquid they drink is still breastmilk; they do not drink water until they are weaned.

Early Play
By the time the kochans can walk, they are able to play with the various devices in the Circle of Love and thus earn karma. Games include giant jigsaws, puzzles, mazes, treasure hunts and engine toys. The kochans also play extensively with doglas and their taskers, who teach them how to treat animals. They are not exposed to virtual games until they are weaned. Play is a crucial period in a person's life because it sets the pattern for future activity, and the doulas watch closely. if a child bullies another child, the doulas will quietly remove the other kids and sit down themsleves to play with the problem child. They will gently discourage the negativity and soothe it away until the child can be reintroduced to the others. meanwhile, the other children are watched to see if the 'infection' of negativity has been caught. It is understood that negativity is created at birth, because the child is no longer fed, warmed and cared for automatically; now everything must be earned. This causes rage, pain and fear to arise in the child. The doulas' task is to ease the passage from the womb to the real world by buildign the child's confidence in gratification; the food will come if you work for it, the game can be won, the treat will happen if you wait. hence breaking a promise to a child is seen as a very grave offence, as it opens a doorway for negativity which must again be closed and loved shut.

Kiddie Airwalks
The kochans are also encouraged to use the kiddie airwalks, tightropes a foot above the ground which are their first introduction to forester skills. At first they practice in level ground, but the big temptation are the Thruways. The Circle of Love is intersected by transparent tunneled walkways to allow people on busines to access the centre of the hub, and these are crossed by airwalks and tightropes. A small rite of passage (but an important one for a child) is getting up the courage to cross these walkways and access new areas of the Circle. Being able to do this gets the child a scroll, as a child with a scroll can be tracked and recovered if they get into trouble.

Shortly after this, the child will be taken for her first visit to her elder siblings in the Circle of Games. At first she will only go for short periods to try out the games, and she will be accompanied by a doula. Children are allowed to play till they drop. This is the beginning of weaning, for soon the child becomes so engrossed int eh games that not even the lure of childers' milk will brign her back to the Circle of Love. Tweans, or children who have trouble weaning, are handled with compassion but with firmness. Once the kochan takes up permanent residence with her doulas in the Circle fo Games, she is officially weaned, and her childer is free to begin her terton-life.

The Circle of Games
In the Circle of Games, the next one out from the hub, the laminar 3D gamefields are the major attraction. This is where doulas come into their own as teachers, storytellers and gemu-senseis. The games are often simplified models of real life projects, like tending a forest or delving under ice, and begin the lifelong preparation for these tasks that Karma Colour people carry out. They are often scored and commented on by senior siblings and friends, who later become mentors when the kochans cross into the next Adventure, hanahood.