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Prashun Patel
09-23-2009, 8:47 AM
My Lee Valley catalog finally came in the mail yesterday.

My 4-yr old son saw me ogling it before dinner.

As per ritual, when it was time for him to choose his pre-bedtime reading book, imagine my surprise when he pulled the LV catalog off my bedside table and said he wanted to me to read THAT to him....

I love wood and tools. I love the smell of wood. I love the feel of a piece before it gets its finish. I plane blanks of wood for fun and mental relaxation. I re-read old copies of FWW and Wood again and again. I'm a fanatic hobbyist. But the thing I love BEST is when my kids show a spark of interest in my passion. It just says, "I get it; I get YOU, Dad".

Anyway, random thought for the day.

Chris Kennedy
09-23-2009, 9:05 AM
My son has the "router book," which is a back issue of Workbench magazine devoted to routers. He has me read it to him regularly. He also wanted me to read my most recent Popular Woodworking to him. He has been getting very good at identifying tools. I just hope he keeps his interest as he gets old enough to use them.

Cheers,

Chris

JohnT Fitzgerald
09-23-2009, 9:14 AM
Maybe 'random', but an extremely important random thought. Getting your kids involved is just awesome.

I was was cleaning my shop the other night and my 2 boys came down and started asking the usual questions ("what's this? what's that do?") and my 7 year old spied one of my planes. So I explained how it worked, how to use it, then used it on a scrap piece of pine. They were amazed at the nice curly shavings that it produced, and had fun "unrolling" them. Then I showed them the nice bevel it made, and I swear they thought I was some sort of magician. LOL. Definitely 'good times'.

Ken Fitzgerald
09-23-2009, 9:23 AM
My youngest son 30 years ago at the age of 6 and then 7 helped me finish an unfinished basement in the house we owned.

Today between classes at dental school, he's remodeled the kitchen and bathroom of the house he and his lovely wife are buying.

The torch gets passed on.......

Chris Kennedy
09-23-2009, 8:17 PM
Maybe 'random', but an extremely important random thought. Getting your kids involved is just awesome.

I was was cleaning my shop the other night and my 2 boys came down and started asking the usual questions ("what's this? what's that do?") and my 7 year old spied one of my planes. So I explained how it worked, how to use it, then used it on a scrap piece of pine. They were amazed at the nice curly shavings that it produced, and had fun "unrolling" them. Then I showed them the nice bevel it made, and I swear they thought I was some sort of magician. LOL. Definitely 'good times'.

This is why I enjoy having my boy in the shop so much. I have revamped a lot of my shop so that I can have him out there safely because I want him out there. He'll come into the shop and carefully identify all the tools. I probably have one of the few two year olds who knows the word "mortiser" (ridiculously proud dad gloat:D). One of my favorites is that he'll come to me and ask "want to play handplanes?" He has a plastic handplane toy, but I'll sit him on the bench and shave away with one of mine on a piece of scrap while he tries to help with his toy, and he loves playing with the shavings.

I hope I can keep him interested.

Cheers,

Chris