pgutier1
I'm Awesome
F**kin amen to this!After reading your post and the subsequent replies, I'd like to throw out a proposal
based from your son's perspective. Now I understand that most folks are raising
their kids in the 21st century in such a way that the following is a little out there...but then again,
this is a time-honored father/son (or grandfather/father/son) method of bootstrapping
the young man to live his life just a little more independent, more confident in his
problem-solving, and more in charge of his destiny than his peers...who will think that working
with their hands consists of tapping on a smart phone screen. :-(
****
The proposal? Between now & when it's time to get his license, find, retrieve, &
rebuild a replacement small block for your truck with your son. And double the
goodness by including his grandfather the mechanic. (!)
This idea has triggered so many interrelated thoughts that it would be hard to weave it all
together into something coherent. Therefore, here is a list of highlights, in no particular order:
1) This would be an ideal way of sharing a powerful positive motivator: 'The Sense of Accomplishment.'
Today we give a kid a participation ribbon, but because the bar is set so low it doesn't mean that much
to them. All the ribbon does from that point forward is collect dust, instead of continuing to help them
get to where they are going. What do I mean by this?
By contrast, if your truck doesn't start when you need to go to work, the young one can/will
sense just how much this disrupts the household. (And they see way more than we realize.) So
you & your helper go get another starter. (parts store or treasure yard, depending upon how much
of an adventure you want to make this. :0)
And then he helps you remove the bad starter & install the good one. (even if it's only holding the light and
getting the wrenches) And when the truck now starts? "We did that as a team!" And then, for as long
as you want to down the road, when you two get into the truck, he gets buckled in, and then you look him in
the eyes and ask him, "Well, is it going to start again?"
And he will consider it, and then answer...and when it *does* start again, look into his eyes and see that
Sense of Accomplishment spark him up all over again. (!) And if it starts to crank a bit slower than before?
Another opportunity to observe/troubleshoot/learn all about batteries. Or maybe loose grounds.
****
Boy or girl**, it is perfectly OK to teach your children how to observe, how to ask questions that will
lead them to a solution, how/where to research answers to those questions, (books/manuals/internet
videos/GMT400 forum :0) lefty-loosey, righty-tighty, work within a budget, weighing the risk vs reward
for making a modification, etc., etc.)
****
At this point I was going to enumerate all the positive features that this project could bring to a parent/child
relationship. But anyone frequenting a forum like this already has this sussed. (For example, check
out what @SNCTMPL is doing with his son over here.)
Instead, what I can tell you after both military & civilian careers fixing stuff in anger, whenever I rubbed shoulders
with an exceptionally talented coworker, I would always ask them about how they grew up & who influenced
them. Invariably, the very best ones always had either a father, grandfather, uncle, or friend of the family mentor
them and gave them a head start when they were young, full of questions, and had the desire to learn how to
change the world around them...to their benefit. (!)
So yeah, I'm thinking that involving your son & his grandfather in getting the 'someday this will be yours' truck
ready would be a many-layered investment in your/his future.
Cheers --
**I was a girl-dad, lucked into having twin daughters that are my pride & joy. I raised them that if they put
in the necessary time & effort, they could do anything. In the 1st photo, they are helping install the pistons
in an engine that we worked on. And although they did *not* grow up to be mechanics, they are doing
much better than their dad ever did. And they both still drive/prefer to drive cars with standard transmissions...
which makes me way prouder than it should. :0)
The next couple of photos is ~10 years later, when that same engine came out for some long-awaited
upgrades & enhancements. By now my daughters are in college, but my buddy Paul's son was at the
perfect age to help us with Round 2.
And the last photo is where I have perfected the whole Tom Sawyer 'painting the fence' scheme with a
couple of very good friends. Not only are they doing all the work...but the young man is footing the
bill for this adventure. But the theme throughout is sharing that Sense of Accomplishment with others.
And every person in these photos have gone on to do very well for themselves. Fun stuff!
I have 7 kids and I have done the same and they all love to do sh*t on their own with their cars...
