Dispatches From the Mom of A Dangerous Boy

"Mom, I'm going to go burn things in the middle of the street."

"Oh, okay son. See you in a little while."

I'm the mom of a dangerous boy. The kind of mom who thinks kids should definitely get in a little danger every now and then (the kind that doesn't hurt them, someone else, or property in any serious manner of course). So when hubby showed the kids how to light the deck on fire in less than two seconds with a magnifying glass, I of course insisted that any burning to be done take place in the middle of our cul-de-sac. Since then, Mackenzie and an ebb-and-flow group of the neighborhood boys have been experimenting with the burn rates of all kinds of substances, from moss and leaves to twigs and plastic. He burned his initials in a piece of wood (something I remember doing from my own childhood). Thankfully, he's not the kind of kid to try torturing ants or anything, and he's dependable enough that I know he won't take it down in the woods either.

My mom gave him this lovely old magnifying glass as part of a Sherlock Holmes costume for his birthday. He loves the Holmes books so much, and the glass has already gotten a good workout magnifying things around the house. This is just another fun and exciting experiment to do with it.