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I brought the Traveler out and cozied myself up next to the fire to spin some BFL and Josey asked if he could use the Traddy.

Does a bear live in the woods?

He armed himself with some wool, I set the drive band and tension for him, put a drop of oil on the flyer to keep it from squeaking and tried to keep myself from giggling with maternal delight. I’m not one of those moms that makes her children learn to do everything she does, but when one of my offspring chooses to do something that I like– it’s pretty cool.

I did try to convince him to sit in one of the lower profile chairs but Josey seems to think being on the couch gives him more leverage when treadling.

This has spawned some really interesting discussions with some other home school families over the past few days. First, yes– my kids do have access to most of craft supplies, not just the scraps. And for the most part, they get to use the grownup tools (with the exception of grownup tools that can cause significant amounts of bleeding, blindness, or disfigurement.) And yes, sometimes I cringe a little when they pick the more expensive stuff– but I behave myself.

My major peeve (or at least one of them) is when people expect their children to learn to be Monets or DaVincis and then give the little people left overs and crap art supplies. That makes no sense at all– during the learning process, that’s when one needs the good stuff that works right–not brushes that shed goat hair and partially felted short ends that would frustrate an expert.

The other issue, that of spinning being “womans work” I think Josey answered rather well. He pointed out that historically there have been pirates and sailors that spun and/or made rope, as well as repaired netting and knitting between stints of pillaging and pirating– depending on their needs. There’s really nothing more manly than a pirate is there?

If that argument wasn’t enough to stand on it’s own; he pointed out that there are more girl knitters than girl gamers.

He’s ten going on eleven so while the boy isn’t that interested in girls yet, he’s very aware that his older friends find them fascinating. Well played, son, well played.