Originally Posted by
Val the Moofia Boss
As for the maturity/behavior of children, bear in mind that this is a world based off of medieval Europe. There are no "kids"; only "little adults". As soon as you were old enough to walk, you were being given chores to do, or you were working. Always always working to support the family. Kids were apprenticed off at a very, very young age, and their demeanor would reflect that. Kids back then were more mature than the kids of today (who don't face any serious or regular responsibilities). Also, medieval Europe was a world where you had to be constantly on the look out. Today, a kid in a store can just take their stuff to the checkout and not really pay attention to what the cashier is doing, as the chances of them getting ripped off or anything is extremely low. Back then, you had no safety nets. You had to be constantly on the look out and evaluating who you are dealing with, paying attention.
When it comes to kids, fiction usually makes either one of two mistakes: 1. the kids are acting like adults (have you ever met a kid? 90% of the time they don't act anything like an adult), or they are portrayed as 2. very stupid and incompetent (which is also unrealistic, as despite their mannerisms, kids are VERY VERY CLEVER at getting what they want).