My Idea of a Perfect Sunday Afternoon.

Yesterday, my 10 year old son and I spent the afternoon together. No sisters, no little brother tagging along, just the two of us.

We started off the day by heading to my favorite home improvement store where we picked up a few supplies (and some tools for his new toolbox we had planned to build later in the day).  While in the store we spent a lot of time in the tool department where I explained to him what all the different tools were used for. The kid was like a sponge soaking it all in and I was quite impressed by the questions he was asking.

Next, we stopped and enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch. It's amazing how good of a conversation you can have with a 10 year old when you take the time to stop and listen to what they really have to say. During this conversation he informed me he wanted to go to college at the University of... MISSOURI!?!! What??!! Hopefully, he'll change his mind about that in the next 8 years.

Back home, I had my DJ equipment setup in the living room and he wanted to hear some music. So, we hooked up the laptop and cranked up some old school rock jams. He thought it was so cool that daddy let him play with his equipment and I taught him a few things about how some of the gear worked (who would have thought learning how to fade music from one speaker to the other would bring so much joy to a 10 year old's life).

We ventured outside for awhile where we found some scrap lumber and set out making his new toolbox. We drew our plans out on paper and I explained to him the steps we were going to take to put it together. He fiddled with his tools and I answered questions while I cut the pieces we needed. Once the cuts were made I laid the pieces out on the table and we began assembling. I showed him how to use the caulk gun to apply liquid nails between each piece. He got to squeeze the trigger on the brad gun to put the pieces together and finally he learned how to use a palm sander to sand the wood down before applying the stain (his LEAST favorite part).

At the end of the day he had a new toolbox for all his new tools and a better understanding of the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from turning an idea into a reality through planning and a little hard work. I, had a wonderful day spending quality time with my son.

Sometimes we get so busy in life we neglect to spend REAL quality time with our kids. I know I've certainly been guilty of this. The truth us, it's just as rewarding for us parents as it is for them. We can share our knowledge with them, they can share their passion for life and for learning new things with us.