Jul 6

Renee wanted a large cabinet to store the kid’s toys for the boy’s room for quite some time. I finally gave in. On the way through our local hardware megastore to pick up a curtain for our room, we departed with the cabinet instead. And while we were at it, why not repaint their room? They had outgrown the yellow walls from their babyhood years – so she reasoned.

 

Both Mark and Luke, ages 4 and 8 respectively, and I began their room by removing everything off the walls and carrying out the smaller furniture. Renee helped with the remaining heavy lifting. Then the fun began, the lads were eager to start painting. First, however, we needed to do the prep work. Mark helped me to remove the hardware from the walls and then to fill the holes. Meanwhile, Luke sanded the loose paint on the wood work. Finally we were ready to paint the room. Blue of course.

 

I gave Luke the roller as I do the cutting at the top and bottom of the walls, admittedly nervous. Unfortunately, my fears are soon realized – there is blue paint on the ceiling for the young apprentices’ roller. We wiped the paint from the ceiling as well as we could then continued. From then on, however, my helper is relegated to the middle of the wall. We resumed the effort but soon the novelty of the task was overtaken by the fatigue of the effort. My protégé wanted to throw in the proverbial towel. This became a teaching moment. Once committed to a task, you need to follow through. A half hour later we were finished.

 

The next day we started assembling the storage cabinet. First to arrive on the scene was my younger son with his characteristic quip “Need a little help?” Of course he came prepared with his own tool kit. Luke soon joined the effort.

 

It may seem obvious, but the key to working with your children is to give them a task right for their age and ability. When putting together the cabinet, I had my younger son sort the hardware and help with the simpler assembly such as inserting the cam locks and pins while my older son read the instructions and help with the more complicated tasks.

 

Working together, we finished assembling their cabinet. Fortunately for this chore, unlike many past efforts, we ended with the same number of pieces. Frequently a piece or two end up missing by the time the project is complete. As a parent you must be prepared for such as mishap, but the time spent with you children learning and building a lasting relationship is worth it.

 

Mike