By Jason Nabb

You’ll hear me say that a couple of times over the course of any given weekend.  My son, Isaac, likes to help fix stuff.  He’s got himself a tool box with all sorts of interesting things.  There’s a hammer, tape measure, a couple of screwdrivers, a pair of pliers, a head to a Star Wars lego jedi, some string, a Spiderman, a nickel and a piece of gum.  I love to hear him drop everything and shout “sure Dad!” when I call for him to grab this sordid collection of items and meet me somewhere in the house.

I’m not as handy as most guys around the house, but I have my moments.  Sometimes it’s just a loose knob on a cupboard, or a nail’s come up in the wood floor.  Sometimes it’s bigger like replacing the coupler on the laundry washer motor (you can do this, too!) or fixing the shower door.  Whatever it is, for at least the first five minutes, I can count on Isaac to give me a hand.  

It’s these silly little tasks that we have to do that are great opportunities to be a dad.  Grab one of your kids and head out for the hardware store.  Teach one how to hammer in a nail.  Destroy something together like an old desk that needs to be thrown out, or that lazy boy recliner from the basement that your wife has been wanting you to eliminate.  Take a child with you to do a mundane task that maybe you don’t even like to do and watch how fast that task turns into an adventure.

One thing that I do is I have a hook on the kitchen white board that has each child’s name hanging on it.   Every time I have an opportunity to take a child with me to do something, I look at who’s up on the hook.  I take that child and put their name to the back, rotating through all my kids that way.  This increases anticipation for the kids.  They know it’s just an errand, usually, and not a trip to Disneyland, but they love knowing that they’re next to go with Daddy.  Even if you only have  a couple of children, this works good for reducing arguments.  I also recommend only taking one child at a time.  Sure, there are times that you’ll need to take all of your kids, but seek out constantly those one-on-one moments with each child so that they get opportunities to open up to you.  Ask them questions while you’re looking for drain opener in aisle 8, or spraying for bugs around the foundation.  

Not only will you tie heart strings with your child, but they’ll pick up some valuable do-it-yourself knowledge as well.  Pretty soon, they’ll be tackling big jobs with you.  Hey, maybe even restore that old ’69 GTO you’ve always wanted!