D A D B L O G S
A dad blog by a geek dad with two geeky kids.
I admit that there are instances when I am simply not having a great time with my son. And at my wit’s end and he starts crying, I am tempted to shout “Boys don’t cry!” This is especially true when we are in public places. This makes me think, is crying not for boys? After much reflection, I found myself reading an article about this. This psychologist author explained that boys may be different from girls in some ways but are also similar in some. She said that young boys and girls do not differ much when they cry. They both cry when fearful or depressed or in whatever emotion that prods them to cry. However, this changes when boys hit puberty and they tend to keep what they truly feel and their need to cry as they do not want to be bashed by doing so. Makes me think, I would be very careful with my words with my son. Saving for the education of our kids is one of the tasks we dads must start early on in our parent lives. I hear of some friends who leave this task in the hands of their wives. While I do not question the arrangements they might have, dads are still the best individuals to take charge in securing the future of our kids. So, the common scenario is we are making both ends meet with the income we get from our eight hour jobs. What else can we do? Assess yourself and see what other things you can do in exchange of some I fees. Say, you can offer tutorials on subjects like math, chemistry or physics. Drop your tutorial stipend directly to your kids’ college funds. Do you have spare time during holidays or other times of the year? Look for seasonal jobs that can augment your savings by some bucks. If you practice this all throughout the year, you will be surprised with the outcome. Do you know what the best thing is about woodworking? It helps develop children’s potentials. It improves the coordination between the eyes and the hands and also serves as a terrific outlet for creativity. Amazing benefits, don’t you think? The finished project will probably not make much sense to us adults; but to our children, it would open a whole new world. Why would I let my kids watch TV all day when they could do something as fun and beneficial with me? Now, you may have started to realize how cool an activity woodworking is, but you’re probably wondering where to start and how. Well, the simple answer is probably to go to the nearest craft store. You can purchase woodworking kits there. Perhaps one of the best options is the pinewood derby car—as promoted by the Cub Scouts. Building it is surely going to be fun. Using the axles, saws, bore polisher, scales, and everything else is going to be a part of the entire experience. I can already imagine how my children’s eyes would light up at the sight of all these materials. You may feel a bit skeptical letting your kids touch some of the tools but as long as you ensure all the safety guards are in place, then you have nothing to fear. You can help them with the difficult tasks but see to it that you will not end up doing everything in their behalf. Apart from pinewood derby car, other simple projects you can work on are trinket boxes, picture frames, and wooden flower pots. As for me, since I kinda miss being a young scout, I’d just go for the car. I love to spend weekends with the family and think about fun activities for the kids. Since I work long hours every week, I don’t really get to spend as much time with them as I would want to. Hence, I try to make sure that every time we get together, we do something fun and productive. Next weekend, I’m thinking of introducing woodworking to my kids. Woodworking may sound a bit too advanced for young children, but it really depends on how young they are. If they are six or older, then they can be ready for the task. Younger siblings can play as spectators so they’ll have something to look forward to when they grow a bit more. Of course, you can allow them to tinker here and there. Because I do carpentry and simple home projects, woodworking is something very close to my heart. I would love to teach it to my children because I’m sure it won’t only be fun but beneficial too, when they become adults. Besides, kids take pleasure in working with their hands. They love to build (and destroy) things so woodwork is certainly a perfect activity. It will enable them to manipulate different pieces and turn them into various objects. It will make them feel like they’re mommy or daddy hocus-pocusing things and turning them into something new. What fun! Like many other kids I would imagine, mine are extra excited over Christmas. As soon as September rolls in, they're all over me, asking to pull decorations down from the attic and you can be sure they've already got lists for Santa. It doesn't help that we often hang around this snack shop that also likes spreading the Christmas cheer early. If predispositions are truly passed on from parents to kids, I suppose they got that from me. I used to go all nuts over Christmas too long before it's actually there. Well, Christmas still is my favorite time of the year but I guess things change slightly when you're a working parent. As much as I'd love to think about the cool air, good food, decorations and gifts, there's work and bills calling. There's nothing like growing up to ruin the Christmas spirit, but I'm trying hard not to act like a troubled adult now. I want to give my kids the gift of the holiday spirit while they can savor it without worries. So yeah, I'll probably be repairing some wreaths this weekend. |
Hey there. My name is Jim. I'm a dad & I know some dad stuff & I like to write about them here. More about me.
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