This Girl Rules the Fire Ring

 It took me many years to learn to be content in my own home. But, now that I am, it takes more to draw me out of the house than it did when I was young. After years of running to this sport or that, and to this lesson or that, I have very little desire to do such running, and we are careful to choose activities that fit into our life rather than trying to fit our life into a child's activities.

One such program that has consistently felt worth the work is American Heritage Girls. This is the 6th year that we have been involved with AHG, and it is our second year with Trail Life - it's male counterpart. I do not just send my daughter, but I volunteer too. I am at every meeting, involved in every fundraiser, helping with every event - it is a commitment for both my daughter and me.

There have been many social benefits to an all-girl club for my daughter who laments being home with four brothers and no sisters close to her in age. But, she is also learning skills and confidence along the way.

This weekend, as the weather blessed us with comfortable temps and very little wind, she and her brother (4 years her senior) decided to have a challenge.

Who can build a fire that they can then start with one match, and keep going for at least five minutes?

She won this challenge, but it was hard fought. It was a close race with both competitors using their skills wisely and strategizing the best and fastest way to get a fire going and how to keep it going. I am proud of them both, for competing well, for being good sports, and for remembering all that they had learned.

It took them three rounds to have a winner. They did not give up.

Round one - both got fire, but neither could keep it going for more than a minute.

Round two - both let their matches go out before they had a good catch to their tinder.

Round three - both got fire, and they worked to see whose would hold.

I am proud of them. It is not easy to make fire, but in outdoor skills, camping, and general survival knowledge, the ability to keep a fire going is an important skill to have. 

But, as with all things homeschooling, this challenge is not the end. We will continue to master these skills until there is a winner in round one every time. We will continue to master our fire skills until we can light our cooking fire with no matches at all. 

The skills and badges in the AHG handbook pull us out into the world to learn and grow. These activities provide a vacation from our textbook education, and spending an evening around a campfire you didn't have to build yourself certainly feels like a vacation for this mom.