pleasure to care for. The mother is 
confident of her ability to supply her 
baby’s needs and enjoys nurturing the 
completely dependent child. The baby 
wears a cap on its head, is swaddled 
with a blanket wrapped over its 
clothes, and is tied into a firm, straight 
bundle with a narrow cord woven just 
for this purpose. Swaddling is said 
to make the baby easier to handle 
and play with (that is, less easily in- 
jured and more enjoyable). A red rib- 
bon or cord is tied onto the baby to 
protect it from the evil eye, from being 
fussy, from having colic. Its wide- 
spread use indicates the vulnerability 
attributed to small babies. When the 
child is four weeks old, the mother’s 
caretaker leaves and the father takes 
over the nighttime care of the baby. 
For two more weeks the mother is 
relieved of colony work, then she is 
gradually reintegrated until, when the 
baby is thirteen weeks old, she re- 
sumes cooking for the colony and once 
again becomes a full participant. For 
the next three years, the colony sched- 
ule determines the time the baby will 
be fed, the time it will be played with, 
the time it will be left alone, and the 
time it should sleep. 
Everyone in a Hutterite colony loves 
a baby. Children of both sexes will 
crowd around a baby to play with 
it. A child as young as two will be 
rewarded by being allowed to hold 
an infant. When the adults, especially 
the men, are not working, the babies 
are always held, and everyone who 
passes a very young child — adult Hut- 
terites, colony members, and visit- 
ors — gives it cheerful attention. The 
baby is spoken to, picked up, tickled, 
played with. However, when it is time 
for church or the adult meal, the baby 
is promptly placed in its crib and the 
parents walk out. After seven weeks 
of age, a baby is always either in a 
socially stimulating environment or 
alone in its crib. 
A child is believed to be completely 
innocent until it is observed to strike 
back or to pick up a comb and try 
to comb its hair. Either of these ac- 
Kindergarten girls prepare for 
their nap. Three- to six-year-olds 
spend the entire day in kindergarten 
and of all age groups, experience the 
most restricted, most regimented, 
and least varied program. 
tivities is believed to indicate that the 
child’s level of comprehension is suf- 
ficiently high to understand discipline. 
The child is displaying self-will and 
understanding. If house children quar- 
rel over an object, the object is re- 
moved; if they are quarreling for an- 
other reason, they are often told to 
kiss one another. Very young children 
will hit each other and then imme- 
diately hug and kiss, avoiding adult 
displeasure by quickly making up. An 
older house child may be strapped 
for refusing to go to someone other 
than its parents, for refusing to share 
food, or for being noisy and disturbing 
adults. Immediately after punishment, 
the crying child is comforted. 
Hutterite women almost never take 
their house children with them when 
they are doing colony work. If the 
mothers are busy, the older toddlers, 
especially the boys, accompany their 
fathers and play near the place where 
the men are working, usually in the 
company of the youngest schoolboys. 
There is a united effort on the part 
of the colony, in which the parents 
cooperate, to wean the house children 
away from their parents and into the 
group. Most of the activities that are 
considered especially pleasurable, 
such as riding in a wagon or on the 
back of a truck, can be enjoyed only 
if the toddlers will leave their parents 
to join in the fun. When the little 
ones are in a group of children, how- 
ever, they often become the butt of 
aggressive teasing. 
House children are socialized to like 
people and to respond positively to 
every person (or at least every Hut- 
Craig Aurness 
38 
