*Cough, cough*… Safety first. At least for my first priority, which at this moment was not myself. In the swirling basement dust illuminated by the ceiling lights, I kept my safety squints engaged while keeping my oldest son’s hands exactly where they belong on the power tools. No amount of good parenting goes without some degree of risk, and this was certainly a moment that required my full attention so my son could gain experience and enjoy himself. 

The Wayne County Fair was coming up and my son was looking forward to completing his first few projects as a Cloverbud in the 4-H program this year. He took two projects, including a poster project for sheep that he completed with my wife and a woodworking project, which he was to work on with me. 

Despite having worked on other woodworking projects throughout the year, we had yet to do the one for his actual 4-H project. There’s a famous saying that the best time to plant a tree was five years ago, but the second best time is now. Hopefully he gets a better handle on procrastination than his father, but in any case we hadn’t missed the deadline yet. With just days to go before the submission date, I gathered his materials and set him up with some much needed PPE (personal protective equipment).

He was perhaps more interested in donning the large goggles and dust mask than actually woodworking, but sometimes you need an unconventional draw to get your kids to do things they haven’t fully committed to. As for my boy, he tends to be a bit distractible, so anything that would funnel his vision to the task at hand was a help. 

We followed the steps in his project book to begin making a napkin holder. A great project for a younger woodworker: simple cuts, small but manageable pieces. I was relieved he didn’t pick anything more involved. While I would have preferred to do most of the work by hand, unfortunately some of my saw blades were beat up and gave us some difficulty. Also, there is only so much a seven-year-old can do with little arms. 

Best intentions being of little use in real time, I quickly pivoted our approach to use what every kid wanted to use in the first place. Power tools. 

With the table saw and chop saw cleaned off and ready to go, I made sure to get plenty of affirmative nods from my little apprentice to make sure he understood what to do, where to position himself and what to stay away from. We started each saw so he knew how loud they would be, and prepared our measured pieces of wood. With his hands on the controls, and mine holding his in place, we made one slow cut at a time, giving extra time for the blade to stop before we moved on. He got all the more excited to use the big tools, so although he has a lot to learn about the fundamentals, I’m excited to see him getting interested in any part of it. 

When we had our pieces cut, I did slow him down a bit when I handed him the sandpaper. Some things there’s no getting around, and although I have a belt sander, he wasn’t going to power his way through every part of the project. He sat with waning patience on the steps of the basement and circled the blocks of wood with his scrap of 120-grit paper. I took some mercy on him and scuffed out some of the rougher parts while he finished his other pieces. 

Then it was a short lesson on gluing up and tacking nails before we set it in the vices for the night. The next day he sat on the steps again, scrubbing stain into every corner with an old sock. Just like that it was done, and aside from turning in his project to the Red Metal Building, his first year of Cloverbuds was nearly complete. 

The way out here, patience is important, but getting the job done trumps wasted effort. More important than the task, though, was the little boy who began to learn more about something he has only begun to love. Who knows, maybe one day that napkin holder will sit on his countertop, reminding him of some of the time we spent together.