We have a limited crew back in the shop as we finish the last days of 2024. Since the two youngest grandkids are still off school, they joined us. June determined it would be fun to use the giant shop vice to crush the entire bin of empty soda cans - one at a time. Henry was especially eager to give me a hand hooking up a new air dryer to the ShopSabre router (using his tools, of course.) But as always, it wasn’t long until he thought that his time was better spent doing something else that had caught his eye. Henry decided he would use the shop vacuum to pick up the dust in the router room. He didn’t stay on the floor (where most of the sawdust was) for very long. It was much more fun to clean off the giant CNC router. Before long, he had vacuumed all of what he could reach. I boosted him and the vacuum up onto the tabletop, and he sucked up all the dust he could find until quitting time. While I could have blasted the dust off the machine with an air hose in seconds, allowing him to do the task his way made perfect sense to both of us. After finishing, we both took the time to admire the wonderful job he had laboured so hard to achieve.
Never growing up
When each of our three grandkids came along, I loved to hold them. I was well known as the baby hog. Observing them, I realized my life would never be the same. I was determined to be the very best grampa in the world.
Through the last many years, I was privileged to see my grandkids a lot. In the first months, they often slept in my arms as I sat at my desk and pretended to work. As toddlers, they spent many, many hours playing in my studio, most often with me on the floor beside them. Toys were usually scattered around, and stuffed animals littered my studio. Years later, their drawings are still taped in various places around my desk. A massive rock-and-stick collection lines the top of our fence to this day. Their bikes are parked on our porch or, more likely, out in the yard, where the kids abandoned them for something more fun. It's immediately obvious to anyone who visits our property that kids spend lots of time here.
The grandkids know their way around my toolbox and often 'work' in the shop. Their favourite job is painting, although they will happily try anything that needs doing. We have invested countless hours into our relationships, and we have enjoyed many, many grand adventures together. Like my kids did when they were young (and beyond), they work with me as often as possible. I've learned that projects only take a little longer if a child helps.
The payoff is immeasurable. The most horrible day is made right in an instant with a child’s hug. Their endless chatter and innumerable questions cheer me immensely. Through their eyes, I enjoy the limitless wonder of a world seen for the very first time. I discover daily the joys of making clouds of dust, making loud noises, watching various colours of paint run together, seeing cloud dragons in the sky, learning to ‘fly’ or a thousand other wondrous adventures.
The kids have also taught me things about myself that I long misunderstood and brought a clear understanding of who I am now and who I was growing up. Through them, I have discovered what made me different. In a good way.
Our grandkids are full of curiosity. And while almost every child has this characteristic, our bunch is overflowing with this trait to the maximum possible. Rather than tamping it down, this is encouraged. They see and hear EVERYTHING. They have to try everything, touch everything, and figure out how everything works. For them, every day is much too short, for there are far too many interesting things to learn and experience. In watching our grandkids, my own life became crystal clear.
I was labelled the ‘bad’ kid in our family - the one who always was at the center of trouble. I remember being reprimanded often, but I never considered myself a bad person - just misunderstood. As I watched our young kids operate, I now clearly understand how it was back then. I was simply being me, and I had no ill intent. Like our youngsters, the instruction to not get dirty, to not go somewhere, or to not touch was simply impossible. Truly impossible. If I saw something that piqued my interest, I was driven to find out about it - in spite of the inevitable and known consequences.
Observing our three grandkids operate daily made me realize this was me growing up. I had to know everything, how it worked, what it felt like. And I had to experience everything firsthand - even if my parents or other adults in charge expressly forbade it, especially if the only relevant concern was expediency.
I do my best to take a different tack, instead encouraging the kids to try new things under a watchful eye to make sure they are safe. We do our best to make every job fun. When something goes awry, as often happens, we try to figure out why - or how to do things better next time. With the kids ‘helping,’ mundane tasks are transformed from necessary chores to wonderful adventures. There is ALWAYS a fun way to do things. I learned every day that I am with them that when playing is mixed in with work, great discoveries can happen, and life is more enjoyable for everyone!
That same inquisitive kid is still alive and well inside me. I’m still the guy who endlessly questions everything to find a creative and unique answer. I still take great joy in breaking the ‘rules’ that don’t make sense to me. A while back, I was in a crowded elevator in a very tall building in a big city, and a small child near the control panel politely asked me, ‘What floor?’ so he could gleefully push the button, as he had for all of the other adults in the elevator. My head immediately jumped to what I would have desperately wanted to do as a five-year-old child, and I couldn’t resist. In my loudest stage whisper, I told the kid to PUSH THEM ALL! And he did, with both hands, in an instant. It took a long time to get to the upper floors of the building with a peek into the hallway of every floor on the way up, but the joy on that kid’s face was worth it by far. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey as much as he did!
Humble beginnings
I often get asked how we managed to get started in the 3D business. The answer is that we just did it with the materials and basic tools we had on hand. We didn’t know what was possible, and we had no clients. Our projects started small and were for ourselves for the most part. It was a wonderful way to learn.
We've been going through our old photos lately, and I came across this one, taken about forty years ago. The picture shows Peter and Becke when they were young, test-driving our homemade family parade float - a biplane. Becke was dubbed the pilot, and her job was to keep the hand-cranked wooden propeller spinning. Peter got the more adventuresome task of wing walking - complete with a fake parachute pack. The plane was made from leftover plywood scraps and pieces of old signs and was precariously perched atop my homemade kayak trailer. It got a paper mache skin and a brightly coloured paint job right after this test flight. We also fashioned some fluffy white clouds to cover the bright yellow trailer. Note the seagull in front, trying to get out of the way. My golf cart had donated its wheels for the occasion.
This plane parade float was one of our earliest full 3D projects. We had much to learn and new materials to figure out, but this first effort looked pretty cool for its time. The plane was a big hit with our kids and the locals who watched the parade that year, and that was the most important thing.
