Woodworking and kids

My wife and I have three young children. The youngest is a toddler and the oldest, a girl, is now five. One thing I have noticed when I work with power tools whether it is a lawnmower, circular saw, router, or even an electric drill is that there is something absent. There are no kids around.

As soon as they see me pulling it out getting ready to power it up, they go running for the hills. After things are over, and it is quiet again, they come back.

That is in stark contrast to what happens with the kids when I pull out a hand plane or chisel or hand saw. Granted their attention span isn't too long, but they float in and out, watching me work, picking up shavings, just enjoying a few minutes with their daddy.

I was trying out my "new" rip saw a while back. As I was struggling through a two inch yellow pine board cutting a strip for the workbench I am building with a saw that really needed a major overhaul, I was about ready to cave, and go get out my circular saw, when my little girl said, "Daddy, can you teach me to saw?" I kept at it with the rip saw for a while until later when she was gone. How could I do otherwise?

The other day, I was edge joining those board for my workbench when my little girl wanted to use the hand plane. I let her "hold" it as we did a pass, and then little brother wanted to do it. Just one pass was enough to make their day upon which little brother went back to his stuff nearby and little sister went back to picking up plane shavings and putting them in a box.

Luke Townsley
www.UnpluggedShop.com
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