What are your thoughts on children and power tools? Most parents would recoil in horror at the mention of their little cherub fiddling with an electric saw. What if we take it down a notch and talk about your run-of-the-mill tools like hammers. No? Still too much? Lucky you didn’t live in my household, then.
For my father, no tool was too big and no child’s hands were too small to wield them. DIY was the aim of this man’s game and he utilized his children as free labor every chance he got. One notable occasion, my brother and I each received our own tool box for precisely such purposes, complete with nails, sandpaper and an adult-sized hammer. The other 6-year-olds were jealous.
I spent the majority of my teenage years avoiding the holes in my dad’s floor. For some reason, he has maintained a manic urge to single handedly sand and varnish each and every floorboard in his California-style bungalow. When I wasn’t avoiding the various obstacles in his death trap of a house, I would watch TV in a protective facemask. This was partially because Dad liked to randomly select sections of the house to plaster and repaint, and partially because if my younger brother got in on the action, the house would be filled with dirty-teenage-boy smell.
If my mother only knew of half the things Dad got us involved in; I’m fairly sure she wouldn’t approve of her children scouring through the local rubbish dump "Just in case we find any spare car doors."
While Mum could (and did) repaint an entire house inside and out – getting those hard-to-reach corners with a tiny paintbrush normally reserved for drawing watercolors – her practical DIY skills were less of an immediate threat to our safety. She designed and made her own clothes, made jams using fruit from our little orchard and paved backyard patios.
I watched on as my parents sweated, crafted and tinkered – and I decided that there must be a better way. At the age of 9, I started espousing the phrase, "Why do something yourself when you can pay someone to do it for you?" I have no idea where this came from as my family was sorely lacking in servants and disposable income. I had never seen my parents hire a single tradesperson – even when they should have. For example: the time my father re-stumped our house. While my family toiled, I felt my time would be better spent giggling at the medical advice columns in teen magazines.
Now, with a set of life skills not dissimilar to those of a fluffy puppy, I realize the error of my ways. Which is why I was so excited about this month’s feature. I finally had a reason to start developing some of those old school skills that I baulked at so long ago. For this issue, I got to make my own butter, prepare soy milk from scratch and even make yogurt. Other handy things in this month’s feature include making your own indoor herb garden and having fun with tie-dye. My parents will be so proud.