Friday, July 11, 2008

"What I learned in Summer School"

The 11-year-old took a woodworking class for summer school this year.
He was hoping to make some projects like his big brother made in "tech ed" during the school year: a mechanical pencil, a desk set, a giant clothespin paperweight.

Well, they made a very nice project: A bean bag toss game.
They made a set of two, so two players or teams can stand across from each other.
It's a decent set; sturdy, large, and collapsible.

The 11-year-old learned to use several shop tools (I forget which ones; I'm a girl and I don't remember their names). But, come the third week of summer school, he lost interest in woodworking.
"All I did today was sand. I wanted to make my own project, but everybody does one part of it. And I got stuck sanding."
"Maybe your teacher is really teaching you karate without you knowing it," I suggested. "You know, 'Wax on, wax off''."

He was unamused.

On the last day of class, he lugged home these two large apparatuses, and we all enjoyed several rounds of bean bag toss.
I tried to make him feel good about the class, pointed out the nice job he did, the great game we all could play, and how many tools he now know how to use.

But all he could say was how he disliked sanding all day.
"How would you like to do that for eight hours a day, every day, for a job?" he husband asked.
"I would not like that. At. All."

So, the 11-year-old learned a great lesson this summer.
He learned he does not like assembly work.

Excellent!
Here's one for the college fund!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sweetie, here in the sticks, that is called cornhole or redneck horseshoes. Good drinking game here in the sticks. We have tournaments and everything!

Richmond said...

Heh - yay summer school!! :)

Bob said...

Putting oneself through college by working construction during the summer is the way to go. It wonderfully motivates one to stay in school (and it increases your Spanish vocabulary, too).