How young is too young?

[DanoInTx]

When I was about 4 or 5 I remember sitting at the diningroom table with my father building a model airplane.  I went on to build more model airplanes in my teens, and then went into the Navy as an aircraft mechanic, which led to being a civilian A&P mechanic...30 years since the model airplane and the diningroom table with Dad...and here I am.  My two oldest sons, one almost 12, one almost 10 show almost zero interest in anything mechanical...they can barely put air in their bicycle tires, much to my chagrin...and not because I haven't tried spending the time to show them.  Now I have this 2 1/2 year old son, who tells me,"I need to go to work Daddy, I need my dangerous tools".  He can go out to my garage, sit at my workbench, and "work" for hours.  I have even taught him how to work my drillpress (no worries, I can kill the power to that circuit in the garage).  I dunno about talent, but the kid wants to "work".  As a seasoned mechanic and as someone who has also been in a teacher/student situation many times I have always said that I can teach ANYONE how to do what I do, so long as they are patient and want to learn.  Something tells me though that this kid will teach me a thing or two:)

Point of this?  None, just rambling.  He just went to our kitchen "junk drawer" and came back with a screw driver, he wanted to replace the batteries in his "Winnie the Pooh Tigger rocker".....scary smart!

[dw33]

He sounds great to me - curious and willing to learn.  Just be careful with electricity like you are doing, and I think encouraging his interests can only lead to good things.

[shadow]

For sure Dano, back in the 70's when I was just knee high to a airrifle hehe my dad let me take apart automoble engine's. Pretty soon I was helping him rebuild em, oh the good ol day's. Ed

[SDale]

I'm wound up in the same boat as you Dano... I don't remember how old I was, but my dad was a carpenter & furnature maker. He taught me all the old style techniques and when he thought I was old enough (round 6-7 I believe) he had me changing the oil & plugs in his Pro Street Nova.

He told me the whole time he was teaching me wood working "I'm a dieing breed son... By the time you're old enough to have kids, furnature makers will have been and gone. So here's a wrench and a welder. Learn how to use em and you'll be pretty much set for life."  That's close to exactly what he would always tell me. I ended up goin in the Corps first as a recon grunt, then got out and went in the Navy a year later as a Machinist's Mate...Now I'm an all 'round equipment maintenance tech and a Diesel/Gas Mechanic.

If you wanna influence em...Do it young. It seems like now-a-days parents let their kids try to find out what they wanna do on their own. We all see the slackers, momma's boys and Gang Bangers that the last 10 years have produced. Hell, my brother is one of em. He never really got the same encouragment I did, nor the amount of ass whoopins. From what pops told me before he passed,  I was supposed to be my brother's  role model because my dad worked 2 sometimes 3 jobs. But again, we all know that little brothers DON'T listen to their older brothers and rarely follow suit... Needless to say I WASN'T my brother's kepper.

 I figure if I influence my kids and get them pointed in the right direction BEFORE they're 10 years old, then there's less I gotta worry about when they hit 15-16 and on through life.

[DanoInTx]

See that's the funny thing.  My father passed 9 days before my 6th birthday, there was hardly any influence there at all.  My family until age 11 was my mother and 3 older sisters.  Somehow I just started fixing stuff around the house, then when I moved in with my aunt and uncle at age 11 I got "schooled" a little more by my older cousins...but then I only lived there until I was 13.  On a recent visit my uncle told me about my grandfather who was a heavy equiptment mechanic for 40+ years.  He also mentioned my great great grandfather who was a blacksmith.  My uncle on the other hand is NOT non-,echanical, but it's not his strong suit.  I think it's genetic, but doesn't always run generation to generation.  On my fathers side of the family we had an abundance of carpenters....so I think I was pretty predestined to do what I do...even if I had to pretty much learn it on my own.  That's wwhy I find it so interesting that my older boys could care less about what I do, whereas my youngest is already trying to do it himself.  Funny,

[Big_Bill]

Hey Dano,

Remember, your boys only have 1/2 of your genes or less, the rest are from your wife's gene pool. They may carry her, or her familiestraits and interests.

If you look into Genetics, it is amazing that male children are born at all. And out of gene pool, you have produced millions of sperm, and no two are alike !

Your boys can take after your great, great grand uncle on your fathers side, or from any of your wife's relatives.

Iguess the point is, raise then the best way that you know, and pray for the best. Some children know what they want to be from the start, others find out later.

Heck, I have always been what I had to be, and I still don't know whatI am. I guess I'll never grow up, where's Peter Pan when you need her

[SDale]

Ya know...Now that I think of it, it probably IS genetic. My dad was wood worker by trade, but LOVED to wrench on cars & bikes (or shoot) in his spare time. Same thing with HIS old man.

[Rixtrix]

I definitely got it from my dad. He was an engineering tech for Swift and Co. a large meatpacking firm, but did carpentry, built furniture, fixed his own cars , etc. and I got to watch/help from as young as I can remember. He grew up on a farm when they still used horses, then my grandpa got the first rubber tired tractor in western Nebraska. They fixed/maintained/built all their equipment themselves back then. He could shoot better than anyone I ever knew, great eyes! Plays about 15 musical instruments and sang at over 220 weddings. I think I got about 10% of his talents, on the mechanical side only. When I had my 2 sons, I had hoped to get them interested in my passions,but until recently they hadn't a lot of interest, but I blame a lot of that on their @#$%^&*( disease. They seem to have always known that they just didn't have the strength and dexterity to do a lot of the things I do, but would spend hours watching me bust knuckles when they were 1-3 years old. Let 'em start young, safely, and then nurture any interest they show.

Ric G

[Gene_SC]

My parents were still working in a bearing factory in Indianapolis when I came along in the late 40's.. I was shipped off to live with my aunt and uncle who had a very large dairy and corn plantation farm. There I learned to milk cows, gather eggs, round up the cows for milking, feed the hogs and eat.. I lived there until I was 7 years old. Then my parents decided to move to California.. Again both my parents worked full time and I was again shipped off to another aunt and uncles ranch. There I learned all about citrus farming, how to plow, spring tooth, disc plow, drive a truck, and how to eat lots of oranges and lemons...  My uncle taut us boys allot back then. He was a good honest man.. I lived there until I was 14 and then father died and my mom moved us to the big city..

While I was on the farm I learned how to make great sling shots and could shoot my cousins bb gun all the time. I think I had a great education my first 14 years, but really did not appreciate it until later on in life.. I really took an interest in mechanics. Took all the shop classes I could when I was in school. Never could catch on to electricity.. Worked as an A&P licensed mechanic for McDonald Douglas and Lockheed. Then decoded after a couple years to get a real job.. Started at the bottom with a truck drive train manufacturer and worked there for over 20 years. Then the OEM's took over remanufacturing and the little guys got pushed aside, so I picked up a computer book one day and a week later I bought my first computer. From there I owned my own ISP and started learning some programming skills. All this brought me to finally retire in South Carolina. Hence, I discovered air gun... I loved them so much and it brought back fond memories of when I was small and shot my cousins bb gun and made sling shots. I had a lot of help by many air gun shooters and hobbyists at first and I wanted to give back some to our community so I talked to CDT about this and he said he would help me with the development of the GTA. So that brings me to this very moment.. I still love this hobby/sport and all the things I do within the realm of it all..

That's my two cents...

Gene

[3n00n]

Dunno Gene, but we might hafta wait just a little moretime until you ain't quite so young . . .