Whittler's daughter
Justice takes up
whittlin'.
Last winter when we went to Lake Arrowhead for a
weekend, I took to trying to whittle boats out of twigs for my girls...much like
my dad did for me when I was a kid. Only my dad, a professional artist, is a
whittling GURU and carved swords and KATAMARANS. There was no way I was going
to be able to compete with that. So I ended up making single hull boats, with a
shaving as a rudder, and a leaf as a sail. It went over
well.
Now this peaked Justice and Hallie's interest. THEY wanted to whittle now. Hallie is still way to young, but Justice is about the age that I started...8. But...well, being the protective daddy that I am...I didn't want her to cut herself. So I put her off for a while. I kept saying that I was too busy, or that we were going somewhere...or something.
Well, I could postpone no longer. She insisted and well, I relented. So today I pulled out my swiss army knife and showed her the basics. Cut away from yourself, hold it like this, at this angle. Then she wanted to be left alone. At first she had a tough time just scraping, but soon she got it down, and was able to get pretty far on her boat.
Now I did tell her that she will cut herself at some point. it will happen. Unavoidable. And she was OK with that....and wanted to be left alone.
The interesting thing is that during all this, she was nice to Hallie. I mean, polite, helpful, sincere.
Oh...sorry...little background. Justice picks on pretty much EVERYTHING Hallie does. No matter what Hallie does, Justice finds something wrong...small things she will point out. ANYTHING to burst Hallie's bubble. Not just Hallie (although she gets the worst of it), but anything ANYONE does. If it isn't to Justice's liking or the way she thinks it should be done.
But, while she was doing this...all that changed. She was nice...and patient...with Hallie. It was WONDERFUL! And Sam noted that this happens anytime Justice gets more responsibility.
Hmmmm....this gives me an idea....
Now this peaked Justice and Hallie's interest. THEY wanted to whittle now. Hallie is still way to young, but Justice is about the age that I started...8. But...well, being the protective daddy that I am...I didn't want her to cut herself. So I put her off for a while. I kept saying that I was too busy, or that we were going somewhere...or something.
Well, I could postpone no longer. She insisted and well, I relented. So today I pulled out my swiss army knife and showed her the basics. Cut away from yourself, hold it like this, at this angle. Then she wanted to be left alone. At first she had a tough time just scraping, but soon she got it down, and was able to get pretty far on her boat.
Now I did tell her that she will cut herself at some point. it will happen. Unavoidable. And she was OK with that....and wanted to be left alone.
The interesting thing is that during all this, she was nice to Hallie. I mean, polite, helpful, sincere.
Oh...sorry...little background. Justice picks on pretty much EVERYTHING Hallie does. No matter what Hallie does, Justice finds something wrong...small things she will point out. ANYTHING to burst Hallie's bubble. Not just Hallie (although she gets the worst of it), but anything ANYONE does. If it isn't to Justice's liking or the way she thinks it should be done.
But, while she was doing this...all that changed. She was nice...and patient...with Hallie. It was WONDERFUL! And Sam noted that this happens anytime Justice gets more responsibility.
Hmmmm....this gives me an idea....
