Up in SMOKE

I have decided that I am WAY too old to have children. Ian has given me many life experiences. Quite a few have occurred in the past year. I realize that every child goes through mischievous stages in their lives, but holy cow!!!


Today began as a typical Wednesday. I went to work and was actually having a very busy day. We were having production issues and I was right in the middle of it. At around 11:30, I received a phone call from Nancy. Normally she does not call unless it is something urgent, so I stopped everything and answered. She started with "I don't want to alarm you, and everyone is ok"...... My heart began pounding..... "Ian and Cameron were in the back yard and it caught fire". My heart sank. "The fire department came and everything is fine" .... "The fire chief sat the boys down and had a long fire safety talk with them"....

Now, what am I supposed to think. Here I am at work and I get a call that my 6 year old started the back yard on fire. Shortly after the call, I received a picture of the damage.


On my way home, I called everyone I could think of to ask them what kind of punishment would fit the crime.

I got home and surveyed the scene before talking to Ian. For reference sake, the burned site area is about as many square feet as mom and dad's house.




When I went in to talk to Ian. Here is what he told me:

Cameron found a lighter on the barbecue and thought it would be cool to light things on fire. Ian agreed. They decided that it would be best if they went behind the barn so that no one will see them. Ian wanted to light a raspberry on fire. Cameron suggested the grass. They started with a little fire and quickly put it out. (mind you, we have not had rain in quite awhile and the grass is extremely dry). They decided that they wanted to try it again. This time when the grass caught fire, it got a little out of control. They panicked and tried to find something to put it out..... AH HA!! Squirt Guns!! Hmmm, that didn't work. Crap! Now they had to go tell the adults. Tyler had come around the corner and Cameron told him to go get grandma. Grandma called 911. Grandpa and David came running. David tried to stomp out the flames, but his rubber sandals started to melt. Grandpa grabbed the hose, but it wasn't long enough. By the time the fire department showed up, the fire had been doused. They inspected the site to ensure that nothing would flare up. Nancy asked them if they would talk to the boys. The fireman explained to them that playing with fire is dangerous. Someone could have been hurt badly, even killed. They could have burned down the house or the neighbors house. They left us with a fire safety book and promised that a fire lieutenant would call us in about a week to see if we had any questions.

After he explained what had happened, I asked him what he thought his punishment should be. He explained that grandma had grounded him from the TV, computer and Wii for the day. I asked if he thought that was enough punishment. He sat there thinking for a bit, then said "no, I think I need to be grounded from those things for a week". I accepted his punishment, gave him a hug and made him promise not to play with fire anymore. He agreed and promised to tell on anyone that was playing with fire.

Between spray painting the dog, knocking his tooth out by running into a fence and catching the yard on fire, this year has already been a doozy. Only four months to go!!!