First day of real fall weather and first Saturday we've been home in a while. Good day to do some chores. Decided to re-paint the front stoops. Have to scrape and sand them down first.
Here are the hands of a man at work.
Not my hands. The nine year old's.
Typical pose for him, taking over a job from the old man. What can you expect from a kid whose first complete sentence was, "Help you, Daddy?"
He's good at this stuff and he's been at it for a while. Some time I'll have to write about how he helped me re-floor our back deck when he was 6 and a half. Over-protective mothers be warned: the story involves a small child using power tools, including a drill and a circular saw.
Of course, a kid's still got to be a kid and I've been left alone to finish the job myself while he and his brother are off with their mom seeing Batman Begins again at the local discount movie theater.
Lance,
This is a great con you got going. How do you pull it off? Please tell me your secret. I have some steps that need scraping, too.
Posted by: mac macgillicuddy | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 12:51 PM
I hope you are paying him Davis-Bacon Act wages. We'll be watching, Mr. Lance.
btw, this is as good a spot to post this as any. In Graham Greene's End of the Affair, the sad-sack detective has a son named 'Lance.' He explains to the protagonist that the boy's name is short for Lancelot, 'who found the Holy Grail.' The narrator brings him up short by telling him that Percival found the Grail; Lancelot ran off with Guenevere.
Posted by: Exiled in NJ | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 12:56 PM
mac,
It's not me. It's him. There are a lot of reasons Uncle Merlin refers to him as Little Pop Mannion.
NJ,
Actually, Lancelot was allowed a vision of the Grail, but he was forbidden to touch it because of his one great sin. It was Galahad, Lancelot's son, who found the Grail.
Posted by: Lance | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 01:20 PM
Both of you guys: this is hardly a new con. Don't you remember Tom Sawyer?
Posted by: Linkmeister | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 01:39 PM
Lance. Lance. Lance. A mother is NOT *over* protective because she doesn't want her 6 year old using a circular saw!! You sound just like my son and husband.
But I've moved on from fear of power tools -- to the fear of my 13 year old son wanting to ride to the Haunted House last night with his friend's older 17 year old brother and his friends.
At least when you let them use power tools you can be right there -- but not with driving around, huh?
I said, "no." Now I'm not only being accused of being overprotective, but also mean, unfair and boring.
Posted by: blue girl | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 01:56 PM
don't want to come off like a busybody, but safety glasses aren't just for adults - kids have eyes, too
Posted by: no-one | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 02:16 PM
Umm, you _did_ have that paint checked for lead, right? Right?
Posted by: Mongo | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 03:30 PM
lance, if your nine-year-old son wants to be a carpenter, or do any type of skilled trade for a living, please don't discourage him.
if he has the aptitude for it, great.
there is shame or sin in being blue collar. there is shame or sin if you have a red neck covered by a blue collar.
besides, i can think of few better ways to stick it to the social-tyrannical mindset of a lot of middle-class people to have a white collar dad with a blue collar son.
Posted by: harry near indy | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 03:57 PM
Mongo,
It would have been like the guy who used to own this house and did lots of home improvement projects himself, including replaceing the concrete stoop with a wooden one, to have found a job lot of World War II era surplus paint and used that, but, don't worry, that's latex of post-lead vintage. He left the cans in the garage. Plus, you can tell when it comes up.
no-one,
You're right. Both of us have safety glasses. We don't always remember to put them on though. Thanks for the reminder.
Posted by: Lance | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 03:59 PM
Geez Lance -- you didn't answer me back and I scolded you!
Now I'm going to scold your whole gender!
Men!
Posted by: blue girl | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 05:04 PM
I'm not afraid of power tools. I'm afraid of what can happen when they are used improperly. Power tools don't cut wood. People do.
Posted by: mac macgillicuddy | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 05:33 PM
I'm sorry, blue girl, I was outside all day playing with my new orbital sander. What were you saying?
Oh, yeah. The sooner they learn how to handle power tools the sooner you get to spend Saturday afternoon in a hammock, that's my motto.
But you were right to keep your son home. I plan to be just as mean, boring, and unfair as you were.
Posted by: Lance | Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 08:18 PM