Purification by Fire!

I was scared to death! What had my child done? I was shampooing my hair in the shower, (don’t picture it.) when the piercing rings of the fire alarm began. I wrapped up in a towel and ran to the kitchen with soapy hair and water dripping everywhere. The screaming alarm had ceased, but I was worried nevertheless.

“I heard the noise, Mommy.” Child #2 said innocently as he met me in the kitchen.

Of course I asked in a panic if he had gotten down the matches. Just two days before, he and a few friends had been playing “camping” under the deck. At least half the large match box had been used in an attempt to light their” camp fire”. They had told me at the time that they had been burned but they were fine. I spoke to all the boys and explained the danger of playing with matches and had them collect all the discarded sticks. I hid the remainder of the unused matches; so, I thought

So, I had reason for concern to say the least. My innocent child reported he had just been playing with toys and had heard the alarm. I instructed him to stay out of the kitchen. He went back into the playroom to resume his play and I returned to desoap. Well, a few minutes later, the alarm screams sounded once more. I again panicked. I wondered if my sweet Smokey the Bear was playing camping again or if the alarm needed the batteries changed. (It’s always good to have another line of thought so I’m not always blaming the children. But, I’m not naive.)

It took longer for the alarm to stop this time. Smokey explained that a box of matches had fallen out of the cupboard and one match fell out. That had made the alarm go off. I calmly had him bring me the box and the match that had so unexpectedly fallen out. I hadn’t known there was another box within reach.

Later, the boys and I were in the playroom and I found about 10 used matches behind the TV. There was also a marshmallow stuck onto several matches. (I’m not kidding!)

“Were you roasting marshmallows?” I asked. A quiet “yes” was the answer. The carpet was a bit melted in spots and there was ash on the floor. It is a miracle that was the only damage.

Wow! I feel baffled at my child and extremely grateful to Father in Heaven for protecting him, myself and our home.

Child #1 commented,”I don’t understand why he would do something like that when he knows better.”
“Hmmm.”, was my reply. (Something about kettles and black came to mind.)
It is a bit scary to not be able to see or smell the smoke or see what the child is doing. I’m praying for direction on how to firmly teach the “not playing with matches” lecture. James says we could always handle it like his father did. “He just pulled down my pants and burned my butt.” (Do we say butt?)”I never played with matches again.”
Any ideas?