Since the weather has been getting a little cooler, I have been spending time on the weekends building fires in the pit out on the side of the house. I LOVE building fires, and living out here where no one is around, reminds me of our camping times in the Sierra Nevada Mountain in California.
In addition to me loving fires, it seems EVERY single child of mine loves building them too. What does a parent do when children love to play with fire? Well, I let them play with fire! (I do watch them in case you are worried) On occasions in the mornings, I let them take kindling and start the fire again from the hot embers from the night before. As well, they also play with "fire sticks." Fire sticks are sticks of their choice that they poke in the fire until the end starts to burn. After it catches on fire, they "write" in the air with the smoke, they start other parts of the wood on fire, and all other kinds of cool things. Gresham is allowed to pick up any bark or wood he finds and throw it in. What a joy it is to watch children "play" with something so potentially dangerous and have a respect for it at the same time. My attitude and thinking is that they will learn the respect needed for fire by getting experience working with it. And the benefit is that each one of them can build a really mean fire!
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