Fathers are expected to teach their kids certain skills. It
nature's law, starting with cavemen showing their prehistoric offspring
how to hunt for food, and leading to modern day dads teaching young
drivers how to find the best parking spots. These are fundamental
survival skills.
For instance, most kids know little about auto repair- mainly because
the many fathers don't have a clue themselves. Fathers should
teach the basics: checking the oil, adding coolant, and, of course,
lifting the hood and pretending to know what you're looking for while
saying things like "Hmmm!", "I thought so!" or "Where's my auto club
card?"
The other day, I thought my oldest son was ready to learn a skill that
will some day serve him well when he is burdened with what I consider
one of the most skillful duties next to building a California Mission
out of popsicle sticks and moss. I am talking about learning to
use the weed-whacker as an edger.
"Son, this is the Grass Hog," I told my oldest son. I presented
the orange and black yard tool to him, like Obi-Wan handed Luke
Skywalker a lightsaber for the first time.
"It is one of the best lawn maintenance tools known to man, a
combination weed-whacker/edger. But it will take a great deal of
practice to master this ability."
"You just plug in the cord, pull this trigger, and hack the grass. Right?" he asked.
Like an impulsive and eager Jedi knight, my son was ready to attack the
advancing crabgrass like Luke Skywalker aggressively attacking Darth
Vader's soldiers.
Like any good instructor, I urged caution.
"The Grass Hog is a tool to be used carefully and gracefully. Take your time and learn," I said.
So, he took the whacker/edger in one hand and went into the yard, with
a hundred yards of electrical cord dangling from his other hand.
A half-hour later, the butchery was over. Using a lightsaber
might have been easier... and more entertaining for him.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), grass
grows back.
It will take the young Grass Hog Jedi quite some time to master the art
of edging. As the great Yoda once said, "Try not. Do or do
not. There is no try."
As fathers, we have to teach our kids important things, like how to
parallel park the car or hammer a nail without bending it. The
nail, that is. If they bend the hammer then there are some real
problems. Our kids need to learn how to pump their own gas or
repair just about anything with duct tape. As fathers, we must
remember to teach our children many things that aren't so obviously
essential.
Dads need to teach kids that it's important to hold the door elderly
people, even if it means waiting for a few seconds. They need to
know when they've hurt their mother's feelings. We need to teach
them that when one of their siblings looks upset that they need to ask
what's wrong. They have to realize that when parents won't allow
them to attend a party unless someone's parents are around to supervise
that we are just trying to protect them. Finally, fathers need to
teach their children to not be afraid of people who are different from
them and to do their best to understand them.
Yoda also once said, "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."
I guess whether you're talking about weed whackers, lightsabers or life in general, Yoda would have made one cool dad. Tim is the author of "From Wedgies to Feeding
Frenzies: A Semi-Survival Guide for Parents of Teens." To learn more
about the book, email Tim at
or log onto his website at www.timherrera.com.
