At our most recent den meeting for Alex's boy scout troop The Powers That Be decided it was time for the boys to learn how to use power tools. Or more accurately, time for their parents to teach them how to use power tools. Now if I had been running the show it would have been something fun and simple like here's some scrap wood, now go experiment with it. But no. Not long after we arrived our cruel scoutmaster handed us a pile of wood and some nails, and told us to go build a bird house. No directions, no sample bird house to copy. Guess what. Mama doesn't know how to build a bird house. Fortunately the meeting was packed with Dads that did... I tried the old "Maybe if I stand here with a drill in my hand and look helpless they'll take pity" tactic. Nope. This Mama was on her own. The good news is that I wasn't the only helpless mom in the room. I buddied up to another clueless mom and together, with a lot of spying on the dads, we built birdhouses for our sons. With the boys help of course.
So without further delay, here is the beautiful birdhouse my son and I made. Be sure to notice it's key features - the dribbles of wood glue, and corners that don't match up. Awesome, I know. I'm particularly fond of the indentations in the wood left by the hammer. But yet it stands as a well earned trophy. Mama wrestled with the power tools, and came out victorious.
My apologies to my father, the tool man, who is undoubtedly groaning over this post.
2 comments:
My first thought was "Why didn't you CALL me, silly woman?" Then - "No, you did FINE."
I love the birdhouse. You DID let him do some of it, right?
It will last much longer if you put a coat of paint on the outside but don't paint the inside. Pine that you buy at the hardware store doesn't last long outside if it's not protected. Nice work, I think you should make some bird happy!
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