Devin has been focused on fire lately. He wants to build fires everyday... sometimes three times a day! Luckily we have a lot of extra scrap wood that he can use.
Cultural voices scream at us from every direction that a child shouldn't be "playing with fire".
Devin has a primitive, natural, passionate curiosity toward fire and I we really want to nurture that.
I trust my son. I have seen the respect he has with fire and I know that even if I am inside he will be responsible. I am no more worried with him building fires than I am with anything else he chooses to do. Sometimes he will invite me outside to check out the fire he built. Today was one of those days...
I love the smell of smoke on his clothes after a day of fire building. I hold him close and hug his strong man-child body against mine and breathe in the scent of his passion.
My fear of him playing with fire is gone and the trust of his abilty with "dangerous" things such as fire is ever-growing. I look forward to soon hearing, "Mom! Come check out the fire I built!"
4 comments:
Hey Dayna,
My sons (11 and 9) and their friend who is 6, make fires everyday. They actually are now able to make fires using a bow drill to create a coal and then use some bark to create a flame and make a one-flame fire. They have learned this through their nature awareness class that they take with this awesome mentor, spending 4-hours in the woods each week. Check out the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, WA and Jon Young. I bet Devin would enjoy this stuff. There are these types of programs everywhere thanks to Jon Young and others. They work a lot with homeschoolers.
I just love it when I find other moms willing to allow their children freedom and help to be themselves. What a great example of loving trust.
Hey Dayna! My son is 7, and we do a lot of camping, so he's een around fires for as long as he can remember. We've even made cannons that shoot fireballs and filled cups of gas and thrown them in the fire to make big booms. It's harmless fun. But, I can imagine that many people would be very worried when my son gets so close to the fire. I've never really been concerned about it. It's a little bit weird, but, he seems so entranced by fire and so confident and comfortable around it that I just don't even worry. He wants to take Fire Dancing lessons..he practiced with sparklers on the 4th of july. the video is at my blog http://raisingexplorers.wildchildreserve.com
Have fun playing with fire. :D
My 5yo loves fires too! he is careful and completely absorbed when he is with one. he likes to sit and watch the fire for hours. it is a true need of his and we completely support it. i am always taken back at parents who do not let their kids explore their interests. my son also wants to do flint knapping in our playgroup/history co-op and the parents are too afraid to let their kids learn. crazy!
Amy
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