Today I replaced a light switch in the bathroom that wasn’t working anymore. With. my. own. two. hands.
When I was a kid, I’d have to tag along after Dad under the guise of helping him. I’m not sure now whether my presence was actually needed or if Mom just wanted me out of the house so my sister and I would quit squawking at each other, but regardless of the reasons, I frequently stood around the grease-scented machine shed holding screws and trying to find that 3/4″ wrench from the grime-covered tool box.
I remember one time when Dad showed me how to wire something; he told me about how important it was to make sure there was no power running to whatever you were working and then showed me how to use those nut thingies, although I remember him using electrical tape more often than not. Mostly what he impressed upon me was that it was something I could do.
Yeah, even me…the girl who has always been nervous of anything outside of reading a book and tinkering with a computer.
I think now about how important that lesson was, not exactly that I could wire an outlet, but that I could do whatever it was that I set my mind to–and he taught it in the simplest way, just by doing all that adult work around me and talking to me while he did it.
I’ll have to remember to thank him. I’ve graduated from that nervous little girl to a much more self-reliant woman, and I don’t know that I could have done it without him. Of course, he’d get all mushy about it, so maybe I’ll just thank him for showing me the basics. Well, for that and for giving me the skills that will allow me to sit in a lit, well-ventilated bathroom tonight.
(And, T? I do need a man–you. But, it’s really nice not to have much of a honey-do list, you know?)
3 responses so far ↓
1 Kristen // May 23, 2008 at 4:45 am
I am glad my dad taught me the basics as a kid - and now we occasionally get to work on projects on my house together (electrical, pergo, remodel the bathroom). It is a cool father-daughter time thing. And the funny thing is that a few weeks ago my boyfriend installed a new showerhead for me - and point-blank said, I know you can do this yourself, but I wanted to do this for you. It is nice to know this stuff!
2 Laura NaComLeavMo // May 25, 2008 at 11:48 am
It was my mother who taught me the basics but they were learned none the less. Pregnancy has created a Honey-do list in this house and I hate that. I want to get up on the chair myself and change the light bulb etc.
3 Bugged // May 27, 2008 at 5:18 am
One does not realise the benefit of having had a handy dad until you meet some really unhandy people! Like you, I’m one of the privileged few who had a dad showing me how to wire electrical fences and inject animals and all the other wonderful stuff one learns to to growing up on a farm.
Here’s to handy dads!
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