What are you doing, dad?

Ed T

Ed T

Joined
Apr 23, 2002
Messages
3,818
Tonight, I was BBQ ing a few turkey legs and a beef roast to make sandwiches for dinner. While cooking, I was putting my Northfield Executive Whittler to the stone for a touch up.

My youngest, Luke (3) asked me what I was doing. I had him sit on the step below me and let him touch up the edge on the stone. Of course, I had my hands on to make sure it was slow and smooth.

I sure hope he remembers when he is older, because I am pretty sure I will not forget.

The older two kids have their knives and soon, Luke will have his collection too.
 
Ed T said:
Tonight, I was BBQ ing a few turkey legs and a beef roast to make sandwiches for dinner. While cooking, I was putting my Northfield Executive Whittler to the stone for a touch up.

My youngest, Luke (3) asked me what I was doing. I had him sit on the step below me and let him touch up the edge on the stone. Of course, I had my hands on to make sure it was slow and smooth.

I sure hope he remembers when he is older, because I am pretty sure I will not forget.

The older two kids have their knives and soon, Luke will have his collection too.
Click to expand...

Ed T, my son used to do the same. When he was little (5-8 yrs.), sometimes on Friday or Saturday nights, he would ask if we could look at the knives. I
usually kept some in a box & the rest were locked up in the gun room. He would go get the knives, we would sit at the dining room table, he would look, touch, ask questions (a gazillion it seemed), & when we were done, he would take them back & lock them in the case. We did the same with the firearms, but he never handled those until he was 12. I would get the guns out & make him tell me what to do before you would pass them to someone else (drop magazine, pull slide back, look in chamber, etc.). He is now 25,
& when we go to the range or to shoot, he looks at me & will ask me to tell him what to do before he hands me the gun. I don't know if he can see it or not, but there is usually a big smile in my heart and a little moisture in the corner of my eye. Trust me, your son will remember, & I hope you get that feeling in your heart as well . . . :)
Be safe.
 
Thats great starting him out at that age. I started my son Travis who is now 13, with guns and knives when he was very young. I still supervise him, but I know if something were to happen to me, he will know how to safely handle and take care of both.

When I was very young, I remember watching my grandad sharpening his knives on an old stone on the work bench. That has stuck in my mind for almost 40 years
 
I waited to teach my boys to shoot at the age of 13. Maybe a little late, but their maturity level is low, so I felt it right. My son Killian is a natural.

I also bought them their first knives, but my wife, their stepmom is a little uptight, so instead of fighting it, I just keep them in the safe for now. I let them have them when we go on hikes.
 
cj65 said:
I waited to teach my boys to shoot at the age of 13. Maybe a little late, but their maturity level is low, so I felt it right. My son Killian is a natural.

I also bought them their first knives, but my wife, their stepmom is a little uptight, so instead of fighting it, I just keep them in the safe for now. I let them have them when we go on hikes.
Click to expand...

Thats what I use to do with Travis' knives. About a year and half ago, I felt he had earned the trust, and let him keep his knives in his bedroom.
It was a big thing for both of us. I still remember the smile on his face :D
 
I reckon there is no set age you introduce ones children to the great outdoors and the proper tools the'll need to participate in such wonderful activities.. However like Ed, I used there interest in such things as a carrot for there future training.. Telling them, "Now if you're a good boy and girl and listen to your Paaw real closely, we'll go out and I'll teach you how to use a knife and shoot a gun." Needles to say it worked wonders and I introduced my children to target plinking with a .22 Ruger SA revolver, bolt action .22 Remington, and slipjoints all at the same time. My son was 8 and my daughter was 7. My son and daughter picked it up very fast and with in 6-8 months of my close quarter teaching/coaching and there constant practicing all these skill several times a month or more, they were well on there way to being quite competent little pocket knifer's, marksmen and markswomen. Currently they are 15 and 14 and my son is an incredible shot. My daughter is very good and can out shoot nearly every boy in our area. My daughter has been pocketing or pursing one of her Peanut's ever since and my son is almost never without his Buck 112. We still have individual and team round-robin competition shoot-off plinking on my property and I couldn't be more pleased my kids own the skills that may one day perhaps save their own lives and, others as well.


Anthony
 
Ed T said:
While cooking, I was putting my Northfield Executive Whittler to the stone for a touch up.

My youngest, Luke (3) asked me what I was doing. I had him sit on the step below me and let him touch up the edge on the stone.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a wonderful moment. :thumbup:

I've spent some time with both my daughter (now 7) and son (now 5) sitting on my lap "whittling." I helped them hold the stick with my left hand and the knife with my right and worked with them on how to slowly and carefully carve strips of wood off. We stress safety and awareness of knife position at all times because, as I tell them over and over, "If you cut yourself, your mom will kill me." :D

-- Mark
 
I keep seeing a common theme on these posts that all of us were lucky enough to have a father that passed on what his father taught him. I am at the peak of 50 & can still remember the stories of my dad, grandpa, and my uncle sitting in the my grandma's kitchen on a Saturday night, her fixing either rabbit or squirrel, gravy, & of course biscuits, and hearing the laughter from the stories of what had happened that day. I will never forget on my 9th birthday, I got a bolt action single-shot .410. Dad said I could start going with them when hunting season rolled around. First day of hunting season, all decked out in my canvas pants & jacket, boots, brand new gun, wth works.
When we started to go into the corn field, I ask Dad what he did with my "bullets". He said they would come at a later time, but just make sure I carried the gun as if it were loaded. Talk about mad. I carried that .410 for the next 2 years without ever once loading it. Snow, mud, up hills, across creeks, sitting under trees for hours hunting squirrels, I kept thinking what did I do wrong. On my 12th birthday, my uncle, grandpa & grandma were at our house & that was a little strange. When I got into the kitchen, there was only one small box on the table, & when I unwrapped it, inside was a single .410 shell. When I looked at dad, I think that was the first time I had ever seen tears in his eyes. It didn't occur to me until I got older why he had done what he had. Of course, my son started the same way. It's funny how there are so many ways to teach someone, & yet they all have the same result.
Be safe.
 
This summer we were out camping on the coast and my daughter (7) sat with me watching me turn logs into toothpicks by the fire. She wanted to try so I had her sit in front of me and I showed her how to use the blades. The next night I was prepared and had a spare for her to use. We spent many hours that week. I bought a queen whittler for her to use, but I have a feeling I will be sitting down with her and looking at knives so she can pick out her own style. I also took her to the range last year, but wife would not let me let her shoot, that will happen this winter. As far as my son (4) goes it will be a few years as he is far too wild to let loose with real sharp things. Steven
 
my dad and my uncle showed me everything i needed to know when i was a wee young pup with knives.and how to use them and take care of them.i remember when my dad was field dressing a wild bore and started the butchering process right afterward,he said to me,my boy if you know how to use a knife properly then i have done my job as a father to you.

colt
 
started my daughter off when she was 6yo with a baby butterbean. she is now 10 and has a small collection and she asks when she wants to use one or another. i tried to slip her case blue bone copperhead into my collection box the other day and she wasnt having any of it. lol
 
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