Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The Inventor

My son David, has always been interested in how things work. Two of his favorite books are "How it works in the city" and "How it works in the country." These books explain how just about everything works, from sewer systems to milking machines.

At the grand old age of 9 months our son did not awaken us in the early morning hours as was his custom. Checking the video monitor that covered the entire crib we saw no David. We ran into his room, only to find a pile of stuffed animals in the middle of the room next to a crib that had been dismantled. The bottom of the crib was still attached, but one of the side pieces was laying on the floor. So David had slid down the front like a slide and begun playing with his toys and stuffed animals.

How did this happen? Were we that bad at putting the crib together? Then we heard the giggles emanating from the pile of animals and saw a smiling face that looked strangely like our son peeking through. That afternoon we repaired the crib, taking extra care to tighten all the bolts. That evening we watched in fascination as our 9-month-old son would shook the front of the crib, then with those little baby fingers tried to unscrew the bolts. This went on repeatedly until he came to realize this was not going to work. So for the next several months we had to tighten the crib bolts on a daily basis. I kid you not—this is a true story. We even kept a copy of the e-mail we sent to my in-laws about the incident.

Inventor-man David
When he was three he would ask to ride the rides at Wal-Mart, only to jump off as soon as the ride started. People's looks at me were comical—Why would a mother let her child lay on the dirty floor under the ride? But the first time I asked what he was doing he just said "I gotta see how it works." He then would tell us in great detail what rod was being rotated in order to make the ride go forward. My philosophy was dirt can be washed off and if he wants to learn, he should go for it.

I, however, was not so thrilled when at the age of four he took the toilet apart to see how it worked. My clean bathroom was not so clean as water from the tank spewed out the top. I had to wade into the half-inch deep water to shut off the water flow.

Today as my inventor was mowing the lawn I found a sight to start my head shaking. He had taken the rake and attached it to the lawnmower. When asked, he stated this was to collect the cut grass and save time. One smart cookie.

5 comments:

Rose of Sharon said...

What a sweetie! I love him! He is so much like my Grayson! A friend of mine noticed Grayson staring out the window from his little car seat as we were driving to the mall for lunch. She said he is different than most 9 month olds, you can tell he is not just staring, he is OBSERVING things. I thought this was pretty profound! And it has been the story of his life! Like your David, Grayson wants to know how things work!

I LOVE the story of the ride at Wal-Mart! This boy is destined to create something fabulous for the world!!!!

I really suggest that you get him some tools and give him an old motor, he would probably LOVE it! I started buying the boys small battery opperated motors. You can find them in old toys or those small lint removers. You can find them at Goodwill for cheap. Just lay down paper in the kitchen and give him a screwdriver and let him go for it. What was really fun for them was getting the motor out, attaching wires to a battery and other wires to a small fan or light bulb or something and making something else work.

I love his lawn mower with the rake behind it idea! That is fabulous.

Grayson and David would be great friends if we lived close!

Hugs, Sharon

P.S. You talked about being a "real" blogger, you should visit my sister's blog today. Her's is called "Feathering my Nest" and you can get to it from mine, it listed on my sidebar, just click on it.

Rose of Sharon said...

Oh, I forgot to mention! Remember, saftey first! YOu have to preach over and over that they cannot mess around with electricity AT ALL, which I know you are full aware. Also, we learned that some of the big voltage square batteries like for the big flashlights can be dangerous, so you might read up on that, but the little 9 volt and C & D batteries are pretty safe.

:0)

simplegifts3 said...

WOW! What a wonderful story! I am so grateful for people who know how things work, and how to make things work. I need them, because alas, I am NOT one of them!

Kathi said...

Your boy sounds so smart. I loved hearing all those things he has done. The crib story is so cute and shows how really smart and curious he is. My son is a little that way too. He is asking me quite often to take him to Home Depot. He buys pipe used for sprinkler systems, and all these gadgets. He puts them together and makes things like potato guns. It's fun raising boys. You never know what they'll come up with.

I'm glad you stopped to visit me. I'm glad to meet you Kim. Blessings, Kathi

Kim said...

Sharon- I will have to look for the motors, he would love that. He has been able to dismantle some items that no longer work. And of course has used the parts for other items.
For Christmas we bought him several K'nex sets. Even when he was little we stuck to the tried and true toys, like Lincoln Logs.

Simplegifts3- I'm with you on not being handy-Rich and I are not as handy as David, so when we had to replace two sinks a couple of months ago it was David that crawled under the counters and hooked them up. While Rich was reading the directions he said "oops, you need to put a bolt on before..." and David just said "already done."

Kathi- welcome. I loved seeing your beautiful kids. I also have enjoyed Sharon's sharing of miracle your Dad's healing.

Of course, that is what also causes him more problems in school, since he learns more by doing than by hearing.