Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few days, you may have heard that Marc (The Wood Whisperer) and Nicole (The Lady of Leet) Spagnuolo are expecting their first child sometime in late December. Congratulations, Marc and Nicole! That’s a big step in your lives.
This got me thinking – how much did the arrival of children in your home affect your shop time? Did the big event have a major or just a minor impact on your shop time? Do you even have kids, or did you start woodworking well after they were grown?
In the 24 days my son’s been alive, I’ve been out in the shop a total of about 4 hours. I assume that’ll improve significantly once he’s not in need of care every ~2 hours.
I tried to get my workshop built before my daughter was born, but a contractor screwed me. Ugh. (read about it at http://www.theworkshopproject.com) I am still able to get in the shop with two kids, and I am looking forward to the Fall when both kids are in school. Then I will have five days in the shop. Woohoo!
Jonathan
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Hey, AJ, congratulations! 🙂
As the kids moved into what was my shop & took every minute in the day and more, it was a good 3 years after my firstrouter were born before I even got back into the shop.
I’m a little bothered that there wasn’t one response that called out the positive effect of children on one’s work in the hobby.
The first one hated the noise, so that wasn’t a problem. The second one wanted to “help” me when I was using the TS. I couldn’t safely keep and eye on him and what I was doing so I curtailed it greatly. He starts school in September so that will help. 🙂
Hey, Chet… no offense intended. In fact, my oldest and I were out today cleaning shop to get ready for another project. Why don’t you tell us about some of your positive experiences? I’d love to share them with my readers!
I’ve really learned a lot about woodworking since my son was born, but it’s been a bit of a struggle. Some of it may be normal, some of it is that Aspergers kids just take a lot of time to prep for otherwise simple tasks. I get lots of interruptions and other responsibilities can’t always be done with according to the original schedule.
The good news is that I’ve learned to plan better so that my time is used more efficiently and I’ve invested in tools that also save me time, like my Earlex sprayer. Also, now that my son is older, he can keep himself occupied and he finally has some friends of his own that he can visit with.
Having children is definately a strain on both time and money for your hobbies, but the trade-off is worth it. My 3 year old daughter and I put up a shed this past spring. I could have done it in half of the amount of time without her, but it would have been one tenth as much fun. Seeing her with a tape measure and a hammer, beating the daylights out of a 2×4, will forever be in my memories. Her words of encouragement were priceless. “Don’t hit yourself with the hammer again, daddy!” “You’re going to fall, daddy!” “Is it supposed to look like that, daddy?” At the time it was slightly irritating, but in hindsight, it’s priceless.
I started ww about 7 years after I got married and started having children – and I have only six children (the oldest just graduated high school).
So I don’t know what ww is like without the logistics and blessings of domestic life.
Therefore the options to this survey do not apply to me.
If one has been a ww first and then began a family and having children has not affected ones ww (for better or challenge), then I submit that (unless he/she does ww for a living) he/she might have his/her priorities bass ackwards.
I design and build a lot more wooden toys since we had Parker. It’s fun having a boy because I can make toys that both of us want to play with. (We’ve got one of the designs scheduled for an upcoming issue of the magazine. I’m pretty excited about that.)
As my shop was in the basement directly below my three kids(all under 4 years old, at the time) bedroom, my shop time was greatly affected. But with some inconvenience came a personal life lesson of sorts. Even though the priority was not to disturb them in their sleep time or just not to scare them with “monster noises”, I found myself with a renewed interest in the basics of hand tool work. I found myself reaching for the handsaw instead of thinking about turning on the table, band or mitre saws. I reached for the torturous No.55 instead of the router. Hand sanding instead of the power sander. This went on until they “graduated” to their own individual rooms. The time spent in the shop was more of a game to me as I looked for and found ways to to be as quiet as possible and still get things done. I found myself putting more effort into doing my projects with more care and a more thought out process. As I voted in this survey, the little guys have greatly affected and effected my shop time, process, and attitude towards ww. With love for three great kids and Mom, came a love for the craft!! Hand tools rule!! Congratulations and good luck Marc and Nicole!!
It has greatly effected my hobby not in a positive way but I dont see it as a negitive either.
I rarely go into the shop like I used to especially with him being out of school when he is in school I will steal some time during the day before work,but generally when hes home I dont go even if he is entertained playing with his friend I still cant concentrate knowing that at any minute I could hear the OH so familiar alarm sound out DADDY DADDY DADDY it also works as an alarm clock which unfortunately has no snooze button lol
I have built some projects for him with his help like the latest a penny drop game using some old scrap ply and nails for the bumpers that changes the direction of the penny as they fall and covered the front with some excess lexan I had laying around.
So now that he is older and about to turn 9 he is slowly approaching that age of self sufficiency that I am hoping will allow me to safely work in the shop with having that constant mental distraction which does not allow me to safely work.
For me, I used to be able to get shop time on Saturday and Sunday, now, i have to pick a day, this allow my wife to also have a day to do what she wants / needs. so it’s effected my shop time by 50% and i have to say i wouldn’t change it.
Now, David, that sounds like a great compromise