Highly Esteemed Galoots--I gotta tell ya' that it warms my old heart
to hear of all the woodworking with yer youngins'. And, I have to
confess that when my kids were young that I didn't do enough of that
WITH them. But, I do remember giving my two eldest old braces and
bits and they entertained themselves for hours making holes in a
rotten stump that they named Holly Evil. Nobody seems to remember
why the stump got a name. but, I eventually had to give them limbs to
work on because Holly Evil eventually got to be about 3 feet deep as
they continued their mining operations with the braces. SWMBO thought
there might be some chance of the thing collapsing on them.
As I made my usual old tool route today I happened to come across a
quite functional brace for small hands. It no doubt was part of a
set a some time, but it has a set screw to hold smallish bits and
will fit my 3 year old granddaughter's hands quite well. With her, I
resurrected a big piece of 4X4 balsa wood. She can hammer nails in
and extract them and should be able to drill holes equally well.
Sometimes we can spend an hour looking at the Tremont Nail website!
For those of you with GITS, be sure to share your woodworking/tool
collecting hobby with them early. Spend that quality time, you won't
ever regret it. I am happy to say that while I didn't share my
woodworking with kids as much as I wish I had, 2 out of 3 so far own
their own homes and are learning to putter quite well! My Dad is
about 80 and my two eldest are 26 and 30. Today I can answer most of
their questions and help them fix whatever, but still, I have to go
to my Dad for some answers! I hope he lives a long time because he
has forgotten more than I know! Intergenerational learning is sorely
lacking in our society and anything we can do to share that wisdom
from one generation to another is a really good idea. My Dad and I
often get lessons in newer technology from the younger generation so
the learning goes back and forth!
From my Dad I learned auto mechanics--up to a point, but best of all
he taught me how to swear, for which I shall ever be indebted to him!
I also learned things like, you should never take the carburetor off
of the car with a hammer! But most importantly he modeled for me the
American work ethic of his generation. Somebody much wiser than me
once said,"Don't be concerned that your children don't listen to you,
Be more concerned that they are always watching!" Let them learn good
values in the shop! Paul in Normal
On Aug 9, 2006, at 1:10 PM, Robert A. Weber wrote:
> Greg wrote:
> :Then Jeff drops a bomb:
> :
> :> They like to clean up shavings with a hand broom and dustpan.
> :>
> :I wasn't planning on having kids, but this news forces some serious
> :reconsideration...
>
> I'll second that. My ten-year-old daughter loves to spend time with
> me,
> even though I unfortunately don't have my workroom set up for her to
> help. She never seems to tire, however, of grabbing my brush and
> pan and
> sweeping the floor.
>
> My five-year-old son, on the other hand, want to make holes in wood
> with
> the brace, which means that dad doesn't get anything else done for the
> duration, since he can't handle a brace solo yet (all I have are a
> pair
> of 10-inchers). That and that the only usable work surface in my
> shop is
> a Workmutt, which isn't quite big enough for two...
>
> You go, Jeff!
>
> Rob in Peoria
> http://www.galootcentral.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links
> As recommended by Popular Woodworking's Christopher Schwarz
>
> Wood shavings on the floor! Wood shavings on the floor!
>
>
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Paul and Beth Schobernd
paul.schobernd@v...
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