Empowered

While my computer was out of order I "blogged" on a word document. I'm playing catch up now. : ) 

Several weeks ago I tried to wash out paint from a roller and the hose broke off the spigot. When David came home from lunch, one of the first things I said to him was, “I need man help” while batting my eyes and flattering his ego.  He went outside with me and I showed him what happened and after trying to hammer it back on with no success he got his utility knife and cut the hose. I was thinking, “What? He just cut it! What in the world….how is that going to fix it….)Then he gave the utility knife to me and told me that the other hose in the garden is starting to bust and I needed to cut it too. Not getting what he was trying to tell me, he said, “Do you realize what color sweatshirt you’re wearing?” (Yes…pink). So, he went out to the garden with me and cut that one and said, “Bring these with you to the hardware store and tell them you need two hose end connectors and this one needs to be male and this one needs to be female but make sure they are the right size.” (I was thinking, “Okay, I better write that down because I have no idea what that’s supposed to look like, but I’ll say the words and I’m sure they’ll understand what it means.” Then I also thought, “How do guys just know this stuff?” So, sure enough the kind man at the hardware store got the parts for me. (Customer service is AWESOME when you live in the country!) Then the next day I went out to water everything and… “Oh no…I can’t water anything with the hose all cut up. David won’t be home to fix it till like 5:00 and that will be too late to water….Oh great….What am I going to do?” Right then I felt like a helpless damsel but there was no one around to take sympathy so the distress act did no good. So, I had to resort to option #2. “Use your brain”. So, brain went into gear. “You know…I could probably fix it….I mean….I could try at least…After all I did figure out how to install the mini-blinds at the church….It can’t be that hard…” So off I went to the garage and Omega and Orion toddled after me, eager to watch and help. To be honest, it was super easy. Seriously. And, I felt empowered. I think girls (or at least me) get intimidated by repair jobs and  I have played the “damsel in distress” act so often that it’s my default setting to believe that I can’t do something that usually men do. Buying a fixer-upper house and having a garden have definitely given me opportunities to learn things and do things that have taken me out of my comfort zone and equipped me with confidence to figure things out and not be so helpless and dependent on my husband. 

Since both men and women have a part in homemaking, boys as well as girls should gain a knowledge of household duties. To make a bed and put a room in order, to wash dishes, to prepare a meal, to wash and repair his own clothing, is a training that need not make any boy less manly; it will make him happier and more useful. And if girls, in turn, could learn to harness and drive a horse*, and to use the saw and the hammer, as well as the rake and the hoe, they would be better fitted to meet the emergencies of life.  {CG 351.2}

*NOTE: THIS WAS WRITTEN IN 1903. THE PRINCIPLES ARE FULLY APPLICABLE TODAY.

I'm glad that as my children grow up they will be able to learn how to work. Every Sunday we do projects around the house and they are exposed to the use and function of tools. 

 

Sometimes when David has a lot of tractor driving to do, they ride along for a little while. 

Our focus right now is loading the dishes without playing...or at least getting the job done without taking an hour ;)