March 3, 2015

Whittlin'

A recent post from Ben Hewitt on his kids and knives:

So, Megan got a knife this weekend. Funny thing is we've been talking about it for a couple of weeks and talking about what the responsibility would be, etc. and she wasn't too keen on the idea--lots of fear of cutting herself with a sharp knife and such. (I have a lovely story about being impatient with my Daddy and not waiting for him to sharpen my knife and nearly severing the end of my finger off when I was about seven that put an end to her 'sharp knife fears' in short order.) She was still apprehensive though. 
When we were in Tempe on Saturday, we went to Bass Pro (of course) and I suggested we just see what kind of knives they had and let her see/hold some smaller knives to see what they felt like in her hand. 
Her little face just lit up and she was so excited when she held the one we ended up getting. She loves it and has done some whittling and just some wearing (it came with a belt sheath). 
Her sense of responsibility and 'grown-up-ness' has just soared. Of course, there is some risk of cutting herself, but with proper instruction and careful attention, I have no doubt she'll do well. Well with the whittling, and the cleaning up/bandaging of the inevitable nicks that will follow...