Red Tool-box
05/07/10 18:31
Not being raised a very handy man in my childhood, I am conscious of the need to teach my own children the skills I have only acquired later in life. I have a need to pass on my handyman skills to my sons as part of raising them to be real men.
I was raised to be a 'nice' boy - quiet, polite, well behaved. But there is something burning within me that knows that quiet and polite have little place in the life of a man. I often tell my sons that I am raising them to be brave, strong men. Becoming men who are not afraid and who know who they are. I want to teach my own children how to make wooden toys, fix things around the house, grow their own food and enjoy being muddy and dirty as they do it. I want my two sons to be comfortable and confident in their manhood.
There is something primal about being able to maintain your own house and yard, lifting heavy bags of concrete or large lengths of timber. Laying a concrete slab or banging together a cubby house, putting up a fence, pulling down an old shed, cutting timber with a handsaw or chopping down a tree. I often think that tradesman like to wear a tool-belt around their waist, drill hanging off the side of it, because it is the closest thing we have to being a cowboy wearing a gun-belt! It feels good to be up a high ladder with power drill in hand.
I want to be a dad who enjoys doing back shed projects with my kids. Making toys, bookshelves, workbenches and an unlimited list of other projects. I want to be a dad who teaches my sons how to be real men.
But what is a man who has limited handyman skills to do? It is all very well to have the desires to command and conquer, but the desire becomes a little limp when we don't even own a hammer.
I was in my local hardware shop just before Christmas last year and picked up two wood project kits made by a company called Red Toolbox. These caught my eye as the packet said, "Made By Dad & Me". Fantastic. Somebody's come up with an initiative where a man like me, lacking in handyman skills, can grab a couple of these projects and with a few simple tools can spend quality time with my children, doing a 'real man' activity.
This particular Christmas I had my father visiting from the other side of the country. I don't often see him, because of the distance, and in past years our relationship had been estranged. From my childhood I only remember my father shouting at us, telling us what we were doing wrong, rather than working with us on anything like this project. But in an attempt to further reconcile our relationship I asked him to help my son and I with the wood project.
We pulled all the pieces out and away we went. Sawing, cutting, drilling, gluing, hammering, nailing, sanding. What a great time we had doing this project together. Three generations. Grandfather, father and son all working together, none of us having much of a clue of how to do it.
Perhaps my dad knew more than he had let on in earlier years or perhaps like me he also learned along the way, as he turned out to be quite helpful. I was really surprised at how patient my dad was with my son Dylan.
After a couple of hours of hard work and a couple of beers and cool drink for my son, we created a wonderful bird house. Dylan was really ecstatic that he had made this project - and made it with his dad and his granddad.
What a great concept that these guys from Red Toolbox allowed my father, my son and myself to spend some time together doing a 'real man' activity down in the back shed.
In today's age where activities are so individualized such as playing computer games, watching TV, surfing the Internet, it's great to have a company that's out there helping families, helping fathers and their children come together to do a physical, worthwhile, well made project.
This small stocking filler that I saw at my local hardware shop transformed into many hours where my sons and I, and my dad, were able to spend quality time together making a worthwhile project. It was a time of male bonding, of father and son and grandfather uniting together.
And now the only problem I have is that my sons want to do more woodwork projects with me!
Time for a visit to the local hardware shop.
www.red-toolbox.com
I was raised to be a 'nice' boy - quiet, polite, well behaved. But there is something burning within me that knows that quiet and polite have little place in the life of a man. I often tell my sons that I am raising them to be brave, strong men. Becoming men who are not afraid and who know who they are. I want to teach my own children how to make wooden toys, fix things around the house, grow their own food and enjoy being muddy and dirty as they do it. I want my two sons to be comfortable and confident in their manhood.
There is something primal about being able to maintain your own house and yard, lifting heavy bags of concrete or large lengths of timber. Laying a concrete slab or banging together a cubby house, putting up a fence, pulling down an old shed, cutting timber with a handsaw or chopping down a tree. I often think that tradesman like to wear a tool-belt around their waist, drill hanging off the side of it, because it is the closest thing we have to being a cowboy wearing a gun-belt! It feels good to be up a high ladder with power drill in hand.
I want to be a dad who enjoys doing back shed projects with my kids. Making toys, bookshelves, workbenches and an unlimited list of other projects. I want to be a dad who teaches my sons how to be real men.
But what is a man who has limited handyman skills to do? It is all very well to have the desires to command and conquer, but the desire becomes a little limp when we don't even own a hammer.
I was in my local hardware shop just before Christmas last year and picked up two wood project kits made by a company called Red Toolbox. These caught my eye as the packet said, "Made By Dad & Me". Fantastic. Somebody's come up with an initiative where a man like me, lacking in handyman skills, can grab a couple of these projects and with a few simple tools can spend quality time with my children, doing a 'real man' activity.
This particular Christmas I had my father visiting from the other side of the country. I don't often see him, because of the distance, and in past years our relationship had been estranged. From my childhood I only remember my father shouting at us, telling us what we were doing wrong, rather than working with us on anything like this project. But in an attempt to further reconcile our relationship I asked him to help my son and I with the wood project.
We pulled all the pieces out and away we went. Sawing, cutting, drilling, gluing, hammering, nailing, sanding. What a great time we had doing this project together. Three generations. Grandfather, father and son all working together, none of us having much of a clue of how to do it.
Perhaps my dad knew more than he had let on in earlier years or perhaps like me he also learned along the way, as he turned out to be quite helpful. I was really surprised at how patient my dad was with my son Dylan.
After a couple of hours of hard work and a couple of beers and cool drink for my son, we created a wonderful bird house. Dylan was really ecstatic that he had made this project - and made it with his dad and his granddad.
What a great concept that these guys from Red Toolbox allowed my father, my son and myself to spend some time together doing a 'real man' activity down in the back shed.
In today's age where activities are so individualized such as playing computer games, watching TV, surfing the Internet, it's great to have a company that's out there helping families, helping fathers and their children come together to do a physical, worthwhile, well made project.
This small stocking filler that I saw at my local hardware shop transformed into many hours where my sons and I, and my dad, were able to spend quality time together making a worthwhile project. It was a time of male bonding, of father and son and grandfather uniting together.
And now the only problem I have is that my sons want to do more woodwork projects with me!
Time for a visit to the local hardware shop.
www.red-toolbox.com
