We Play with Fire

At left is my 11 year old playing with molten glass and a 2000 degree blow torch. I'm not sure how this happened but I think it started in India. She is studying ancient history and there was some mention of glass blowing in India which reminded me of an old college friend that took a glass blowing lab. She thought glass blowing sounded really cool so I looked online to see if there were any classes in our area. I found a studio that taught marble making so I emailed them. Unfortunately they would not entertain the idea of letting an 11 year old play with a blow torch and molten glass. I am sure the liability would be tremendous. Thankfully they gave me the name of a wonderful lady that taught out of her home. We went for our first lesson yesterday and learned the art of making glass beads. It was so much fun that we are going back for more. We picked up our finished (annealed) beads today and were so excited with the results. Can you guess which ones are mine, hers and the instructors?

Homeschooling to me is freedom. Freedom to try new things. I always said that if they wanted to try something they would have my full support. My youngest wanted to try gymnastics. I'll admit that I wasn't thrilled about her doing gymnastics. She tried it and said she liked it but wasn't that great at it. In the end, we decided it wasn't her thing. The best part is that 20 years from now she won't be saying "I could have been a gymnast". I didn't get to try lots of fun stuff until I was married and in my 20's. When I was young I really wanted to sew but there was no support. Mom didn't have time and didn't really want me using her machine. I learned to cross stitch and embroider. It wasn't until my 20's that I learned to crochet, knit, and make garments. Sewing has become a passion over the years and a creative outlet. I say all this because at 18, what person knows what they want to do if they've never done anything? I wanted to be an architect but never knew what that entailed until I spent 2 years in college trying to fit my square self into a round hole. Honestly, it wasn't my thing. Maybe I should have taken the glass blowing lab.