So, Saturday morning he and I went out for breakfast before heading over to my favorite big-box hardware/home-improvement for new saw blades…and a new jig saw for Nanny. (Okay, so we eat beans for the rest of the month; there are just some things worth the sacrifice. A jig saw is one of those things. Oh, my gosh, there are so many other things in the tools department at Lowe’s that I would give up food for, even chocolate.)
We straightened up the workbench when we returned home, much to D’s consternation and frustration. He was ready to start work amid the clutter we didn’t get to the weekend before, but that was a disaster waiting to happen. So, while he tapped his feet and paced restlessly, I cleared the workbench, gathered the tools and other gadgets we’d need, and made sure everything was in good working order. Including the new jig saw…naturally.
“Nanny, can I start work on my car now?” he asked, barely concealing his frustration with me. He wanted to use my power tools so bad, his fingers were twitching when they passed over them.
Boys are a mystery to me (the way they think), and teenage boys more so. Add to that the fact that D is an Asperger’s kid, who focuses intently on his desires and his desires only, and why the heck can’t I just do what I want to do – RIGHT NOW! – and you might understand that our session in the workshop was a bit tense and frustrating for both of us.
He kept telling me he knew what he was doing and that he could handle all the tools, if I would just let him use them. When asked how each worked and what he needed to be careful of while handling them, he couldn’t tell me, so we – I – took the time necessary to explain and demonstrate what he was to do. Starting with transferring his design onto the blank that would become his car.
Oh. He hadn’t thought about that.He put on all his safety gear – vented dust mask, ear protectors, goggles.
“Sweetie,” I said, trying not to giggle, “you don’t need all that to draw your pattern on your block of wood.”
“Yeah, but I need to use the Dremel tool next and I just want to be ready.”
“Next we need to line up registration marks across the top of the block, then you use the coping saw, then you may use the Dremel.”
“How long will all this take, Nanny?”
“How long you got?”
He sighed and said, with great exasperation, “O-o-o-k-a-a-ay.”
Then I sighed.
“Yeah, but I need to use the Dremel tool next and I just want to be ready.”
“Next we need to line up registration marks across the top of the block, then you use the coping saw, then you may use the Dremel.”
“How long will all this take, Nanny?”
“How long you got?”
He sighed and said, with great exasperation, “O-o-o-k-a-a-ay.”
Then I sighed.
He allowed me to supervise rather well, all said and done. Honestly, though, once he saw how to use the tools and was told what to watch out for using them on his car, he did a fine job of rough-shaping his design.
...
...
We stopped about half an hour into the work so that he could remove his goggles to let the steam inside dry off. 
...
...
I went inside for some iced tea, with visions of returning to find grandboy with only a splinter left of his car or bloody stumps from picking up the jigsaw by the blade while pressing the start button.
(Continued in next post, Part Three)
(c) 2009 Martha McLemore
8 comments:
Got to do the comments in two parts. I share your addiction to well-stocked tool shops even though my DIY competence is low. They're as seductive as bookshops and/or wine cellars that have been in the family for two hundred years, etc, etc. Clearing the workspace - right on! I thought I was only Virgo-born, impossibly anal non-craftsman who found this necessary. The lad's enthusiasm to get on with things is touching; no doubt there's an image of the finished vehicle in his mind and his impatience is understandable. Got to go to Tesco (Google it) for necessities. Back in a while.
His determination is something I could learn from!
BB:
I think my love of hardware/tool shops came from going to the hardware stores with my Dad (when he'd let me tag along) and from watching him make things in his shop. My father had a natural talent for taking odds and ends of junk and making new things from them...rather like Donovan does, come to think of it.
And I, too, love a well-stocked bookstore, could spend whole days in them if allowed - especially the ones with coffee/tea bars and comfy chairs.
I've learned the hard way, over the years, to keep my workbench clean - or, at least neat. Have had a couple of minor accidents with power tools and loose objects getting caught in them.
So, Tesco sounds like our Wal-Mart super stores. Are they denounced by your citizenry as much as Wally-Worlds are here?
Not to sound too much like a doting grandma, but Donovan is a designing genius. I dare say you are correct in your assessment of his impatience. He does see the end product and cannot understand why I do not. I love watching him puzzle out a problem or shape something only he sees from a pile of 'nothing'. He is intelligent and highly creative. When he gets the social skills problems licked (I know he will), there will be no stopping this boy. Well, that's enough boasting about the grandson.
:D
WiaW:
So could I! Not to mention his ability to stay focused on the task at hand.
:)
Sounds like you had very good answers. Having a clean place to work really is vital. My uncles and father have all lost fingers due to power tools, and knowing them, it largely is because they probably didn't do the prepwork.
Hello, Zhoen:
Donovan was very good about remembering and following the shop safety rules, once they were explained to him. He did real well, in fact.
:)
I understand that impatience. I still have an urge to operate a new device before reading the intructions. I doubt if I will ever lose it. Donovan is lucky to have a grandmother who is both understanding and no slouch at managing tools.
Plutarch/Joe:
I confess to having the same urge, and don't always wait to read the instructions before turning on a new tool. Probably wouldn't have waited this time, either, if I had been alone in the workshop. Setting a good example for grandson can be a real bother sometimes.
I learned about caring for tools by watching my Dad, when he would allow me in his shop. I was a kid like Donovan, wanting to pick up everything, especially the tools that made noise.
Thank you for the compliment, Joe.
:)
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