Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Gender Roles

I was always taught that you can do anything you put your mind to. I try to instill that frame of mind into my children. I obviously enjoy doing things that most would consider "GUY" work. It's not that I am forced to do it, since I am a single mom, but I do these type of things because it is "FUN".



My youngest also thoroughly enjoys doing this type of work. We are working on restoring an old rusty wheelbarrow. Currently we are stripping all the rust off, filling in the thinning areas, then will be spraying it with primer and a new coat of paint. A new tire, and new handles and it will be good as new.






Looks like my daughter also enjoys this work. Michelle, loves being outside. She also wants to help mom use the drill to sand the rust off. Do I enjoy teaching my kids to use power tools???? YES!! I am glad that they are learning to do things themselves instead of having to pay someone else to do them, or throwing things out just because it doesn't look brand new. Our next project will be to strip the paint and rust off an old (was my grandfather's) metal swing. Then we will need to replace want might need replacing and prime and paint.



In case you were wondering why I cut down that dogwood tree in the previous post, I cut it down for a few reasons. First and foremost, it was dying. In the spring it hardly bloomed, there were several dead branches (despite the lush look of it in the photo). I know what killed it, and carpenter ants are to blame. Upon cutting the tree down, I cut into a huge carpenter ant nest. I knew they were in there before I cut the tree. I had ant killer standing by. Instead of a live, active nest next to my house.....the nest is dead, and so are the ants. I am very choosy about trees I cut down. Any tree I cut down is either dead, dying, or dangerous (growing at a 45 degree angle).

3 comments:

  1. the kiddos look like bank robbers! but quite absorbed in their task, glad momma is teaching them good stuff for the future

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  2. That is very cool that they are learning fix it skills. Very important for later on! Great job Mom.

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  3. I only have boys, but part of what I want them to learn is that there's no such thing as "women's work" and "men's work."

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