My Dad would love to babysit my baby son – man, did he love that kid. Well, one day as me and the Mrs were working and my son was about 10 months old, OK, he wasn’t walking yet but he sure could ride that car of his, geez, I forgot what we called it, you sit the kid into it and it had wheels in a circle. We lived at that time in a 2 1/2 family house, that was 3 floors high. It took my father 12 years to tell us this story:
The family had gathered one Sunday at my Dad’s place and after dinner, he said he’s going to tell us a secret which he has kept for about 12 years. He said one day when he was watching my son, he decided to paint the iron wrought railing on the 3 rd story balcony in the back of the house. He put my son into his “wheeler”, set the ladder up to reach the balcony on the top floor and then my father started painting and watching the kid at the same time. My Dad said he went to the garage to get something, it took him abouit 4 minutes and he goes to the back of the house and does not see my son. He sees the “wheeler” but no kid. So he walks around the house which was totally fenced in twice and no sign of his grandson. Then finally he looks up on the ladder and there’s the kid about a few feet from the top, that’s about 24 feet. My Dad said, he almost died and thought what should I do now , should I call to him or what? He decideed not to say anything fearing that his grandson would look down and let go so he climbed slowly up the ladder and grabbeded the kid and brought him down.
After he told the story, I asked him why it took him 12 years to tell it – he said, he was afraid that me and the Mrs. would get mad and not lem him watch the kid anymore, so he held back on the story for 12 years.
He made a point to be very careful when doing construction with kids around. Any harrowing stories with kids and construction, like starting up electric saws, ladders, knives, etc. Just thought I’d post this as a safety warning when doing construction with kids around.
Replies
wow, your father must have felt terrible. That kind of thing like to scare you to death.
I remember going across the street from a job a couple of evenings to take down the ladder the siding crew left leaning against the house. Third morning they came across the street wondering who'd been #### with their equipment. Couldn't get through to him what could happen.
__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
My first construction job. Two directives that were never to be forgotten.
1. Never leave a nail sticking out of a board unless it's going straight into the dumpster or trash can.
2. Never leave a ladder up during break, lunch, or especially at night.
Both were dismissal-worthy offenses.
The more sites I'm on, the more I appreciate both of these.
Jon Blakemore
I had an experience that made me shudder when I thought of the consequences..
I used to have my 3 year old "play" in the shop to " help Daddy" from time to time. (he's 19 now) This was mostly for cleanup and I did nothing with power tools when he was around.
I was cutting some product (1/2" birch ply) with no one around on my 3 HP Unisaw naturally without the splitter ( safety stuff is for the non experienced, right?) Well I had a piece kick back at me. THe 20" square shot out from the saw, clipped my hand (9 stitches) and flew horizontally another 15' before hitting the wall.
On my way to the hospital the only thing that I could think of was " thank God Mike wasn't in the shop" and how STUPID I had been.
Any advice I would offer is to be careful at ALL TIMES
Confession is good for the soul....
Gave my 3 yo son a small hatchet (still has it) for his BD years ago. Never was abused, always used until about 8 YO with supervision. Gave 3rd grandson (2YO) a 12 oz claw hammer, son & DIL kinda went ballistic - seems 2YO had womped older brother 5YO in the head with Daddy's 32 OZ Vaughn hammer a few days before ---- NO HATCHET for that kid!! - OK, but still give the 3rd GS occasional rides on the bulldozer (fops, hardhat, EP, etc fer sure) , he sure loves to see trees pushed over!
My mother caught me climbing off the top rung of an extension ladder onto the peak of the very steeply pitched roof of our two story house in Durango, Colorado when I was 13 months old. She was terrified of heights and knew she would probably kill both of us if she came up to get me so she calmly talked me back down the ladder.
I'm betting my father, who left the ladder there, had an unpleasant reception when he got home that evening.
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Have a good friend (Old boss from my high school days) that has a extremely ADHD son and his name was Caleb. When Caleb was aout 3-4, the family was visiting the Grand Canyon . They had put Caleb in one of those harnesses with the leash attached. Along came an older lady who just ripped in to my friend and his wife. She started to tell them that they were bad parents, degrading their son, treating him like a dog, and should be arrested for mistreatment of their son. About that time, Caleb takes a dive off the edge of the Grand Canyon, straight down. My friend had a hold of the leash and pulled the kid back up and stared at the lady. The lady said nothing, her face turned red and she walked away. This kid survived this and many other stunts and has managed to make it to age 25, alive.
ADHD - Did I mention that I was the original ADHD poster child? As much as my mother hated heights she was known to climb the walls every once in a while... usually to get me down from what ever I had managed to levitate up onto.
While no one ever saw me do it they were certain I had the ability to levitate. No other explanation as to how I got into the majority of my predicaments, somewhere around 12 feet above finished floor level most of the time.
... yep, a harness might have been a good investment for my parents but I've made it to 34 so I guess a mother's prayers are equally effective.
Now that I'm a father, I'm really counting on a little leniency with the old come around go around rule.
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Kevin
Mom says she wishes they had these when I was a child
http://mrsbabyproofer.store.yahoo.com/safetyharness.html
View ImageGo Jayhawks..............Next Year and daaa. Blues View Image
Looks much more comfortable than the straight jacket my mother kept me in most of the time.Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
http://www.tombstone-productions.com/clipart/DU1522.jpg
They did, your mom just didn't know where to find them. My mom used one to save my brother's life from a drunk driver (yanked him out of the path when the guy left the road) over 35 years ago. I use one when I take my little girl (less than 2) to places like stores and airports, she prefers it to being forced to hold my hand continually, and sometimes asks to wear it even when we are just going for a walk around the neighborhood.
I'm going to have to get me one when I have a kid
Like Kevin, who is worried about pay back from his youth, if half of what my mother tells me is true my son will a be the reincarnation of the devil himself.
View ImageGo Jayhawks..............Next Year and daaa. Blues View Image
I really appreciate this thread as it has gotten me thinking about his safety *before* there is a close call. As much as I want to see him roll over on his own, I know that the second he accomplishes that task, everything will change. We have 39 steps from the third floor to the basement to protect, as well as another 25 from a 2nd floor entrance to the back yard. I'm already seeing signs that my son will be a terror like his old man. How I ever got to 46 with most of my brain cells and all my fingers is a total mystery. Almost makes one not believe in statistics. Of course, I did get 21 stitches in my head in four separate incidents when I was 5, and maybe that was the year that negative feedback took hold. And then there were the "fireworks years, or should I say decade," when we tried to build the perfect firecracker. Plus I grew up on highway construction sites and we had a farm in the country with a tractor, bush hog, power auger, and a hip-roofed barn with a 35 ft peak on the main floor. I'd mention alcohol and drugs, but I don't remember any of that. I will say that I stopped drinking alcohol and smoking weed about 20 years ago, and the number of accidents I was involved in on all fronts went way down. I now limit my stupidity to mountain climbing and home renovation. In the picture, the gray arrow points to a 50 ft long. foot and a half wide ledge we crossed unroped. That gray rectangle is a scale bar that represents the world trade center. having 1500+ ft of open air behind you is a true pucker factor of 10!
Major Wood
" I now limit my stupidity to mountain climbing and home renovation."
Well for Gods sake give up the home renovation thing before you die! Thats the only thing that I see that you are doing that is risky.
Doug
I've never had a close call with someone elses kid, but I think about it all the time. If I have to leave any power tools at the site, for any time, I always make them as safe as possible, unplug them, take the blade out of the sawzall, I have a little lock that goes through the trigger of my chopsaw, and I unplug it and lock it in the low position anyway. I lower the blade of the table saw all the way. Kids are determined, but if one is going to hurt themself with my tools, they are going to have to work at it.
I guess you have to look at it from the perspective of a 6 year old, what could be cooler than grabing the handle of that big chop saw and making all that noise!
Here is what I can't fathom, How could anyone teach a shop class and not have a drinking problem? I remember using a band saw with 20 other kids in the 6th grade, good God! It's a miracle any of us have fingers left. I had some friends from church ask me if I would teach their son (13) some basic woodworking. I said sure! He is a great kid, well behaved, smart, I thought it would be a lot of fun. Until the first day he showed up, man I was sweating bullets! All the hand stuff was OK but I was scared to death to let him rip something on the table saw. I kept thinking of all the times I had something unexpected happen to me, just weird stuff. We got through just fine, but I could not do that on a day to day basis, and no way with 20 kids.
Justus Koshiol
Running Pug Construction
Justus,
That is what I do on a daily basis...
I teach woodworking to kids age 5-12.
The key there is the power tool thing. My kids don't use em, well pretty much never. I have a boy doing a geometric sculpture right now who has been using a jigsaw and straight edge for the last couple weeks. One of the keys is knowing the kids and making decisions based on the individual. They (Middle Schoolers) use the drill press, spindle sander, and scroll saw occasionally. I haven't had any problems with abuse, amazingly enough. The most tempting thing in the shop seems to be the air hose.
When I think back to the stuff I did in Middle School shop, it makes me shiver. I guess that's why we do hand tool woodworking. When you use pine and poplar, even ripping in no big deal by hand, with a good saw.
It's great to see what young kids are capable of when they can buckle down.
If anyone's curious, there are some pics of student work here, some way above average, some pretty run of the mill.
http://www.adsrm.org/~kcamp/
Gotta get some pics of newer stuff on there...
Is that were pro-deck got his hammer and nail gif?If at first you don't succeed...try again! After that quit! No sense being a dam fool about it! W.C.Fields
Naw,
I stole it from him.
Sorry Bob.
-Kit
Your doing a great thing Mister Vanderpooch. Keep it up and maybe we won't be the last of a dying breed.
Yeah buddy! All that stuff seems crazy to me now. But now we live in a world with no see-saws and no merry go rounds, and everything is coated with nerf. Back then it was:
"What! My kid cut off his thumb in wood shop! he better have picked it up and apologized for messing up your machine." Justus Koshiol
Running Pug Construction
I'm pretty sure my shop teacher did have a drinking problem lol
But we were not "allowed" to use the table saw, jointer, or shaper, maybe more but thats what I remember being off limits
Jig saws, bandsaws etc. were allowed.
The thing I don't understand looking back was metal shop where they let us play with the furnace to heat metal before pounding it out. Having a bunch of 9th graders, with red hot metal in their hands seems like a bad idea in retrospect.
"Having a bunch of 9th graders, with red hot metal in their hands seems like a bad idea in retrospect."
Gease, In my freshman year of HS shop we were allowed to hand pour 20lbs+ bronze castings into sand molds. Talk about dangerous. BTW, that shop is now a computer lab. Just like almost all the rest.
Jon
Edited 5/1/2003 5:35:39 PM ET by WorkshopJon
that shop is now a computer lab. Just like almost all the rest.
When I was in 9th grade we were in an ages old building with all kinds of equipment in the shop, fully loaded wood and half loaded metal shop
In 10th grade the new H.S. the district was building opened and the old H.S. turned into a middle school, closed down the shop there, because apperently 6th 7th 8th graders having access to power tools is worse then 9th *G*
The "shop" in my new H.S. was a "technology lab" 200 G's worth of useless games and a shop teacher that new less about computers then the students.
It was fun, but not educational.
They also had a full AutoCad and 3D studio Lab, That was actually very usefull and educational, at least to me.Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professional build the Titanic.
"They also had a full AutoCad and 3D studio Lab,"
CAG,
Tryin' to do the math here. V10.0?
Jon
12 I think, it came out just before they opened the lab, was big deal when they upgraded to 13 right after I left.
The one thing I will say is they update that lab a lot more then most schools would, I talked to my old teacher about a year ago and they had 2000 and pretty new pc's 2 large (can't remember the size) ink jet plotters.Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professional build the Titanic.
CAG,
V12.0, They were on the cutting edge. Learned on V10.0 - V12.0 myself. Takes us years at work to upgrade sometimes (Not Autocad though, EDS Unigraphics). We did just go to Unigraphics NX, which is nice though. We were on V.16.?.? seems like forever.
Jon
Kevin
"Now that I'm a father, I'm really counting on a little leniency with the old come around go around rule."
Dont count on it!
Doug
Hi All,
I'm fairly new here haven't really posted anything much but I've been reading a lot.
I have one (unfortunately) for this thread....
Before kids, I decided to move the basement stairs from the kitchen to the end of the living room. The new stairs neede an "L" shape cut out of the floor 7' on long leg and 5' on short leg.
The plan was to install a railing to protect the innocent.
About 2 years later my ex-wife and I had a daughter - still no railing. One and a half years later we had a son - still no railing. Fast forward to my daughter's 4th grade year and she's planning a slumber birthday party - still no railing! I decided that maybe it would be a good time to install some railing.
While taking a measurement - I failed to look where my foot was headed, I attempted to support 245lbs in thin air - I still have a slight dent in my rear from the edge of the 1x6 hit on the way down.
All those years of crawling babies & then toddlers and I am the only one to ever fall through the hole - LOL
What is it some of us parents are guilty of....something like "do what I say, not as I do"? LOL
Get this, Jason Kidd of the Nets broke his kid's collarbone during a game on Tuesday night. His 4 year old son was sitting in the front row with his mom when his dad went to get a ball and landed on his son, breaking his collarbone. One never knows!
I figured out how my son got out of his wheeler - he would tip it over many times. So it must have happened by the ladder, and then he started climbing. How a kid who can't even walk climb a ladder is beyond me, but "wrecked angle" did it too when he was just about 13 months old.
One set of training wheels for both kids coming right up.
Building my own place...so the kids are around quite often.
We were putting on the roof and two guys were up on the top pitch of the gambrel. My daughters came walking up through the woods to the house...and one just comes running along the side of the house to say hi.
About 30 seconds earlier, a pile of shingles and a few tools had come sliding down that roof...
Dad went kinda ballistic over that one...had her in tears...but I'd do it again, although I don't think I'll ever have too!
So far there's been no serious injuries on the site...other than my poor thumb! LOL
It's different when you type that line rather than say it, right???
And PLEASE, everyone, make sure you lower all your hyrdraulic buckets, hoes, etc. when you are done.
The easy way woulda been give the ladder one good shake then catch.
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
I was renovating the upper mezanine of a Nightclub. The Cleaner would bring in his 4yr old son Jason twice a week while his wife was getting cancer treatments. As kids go he was okay, but there was a serious discipline problem, the kid pretty much got to do whatever he wanted and you could see why with his Mom dying and all.
The kid would hang around me quite a bit but there was a rule. Whenever I used the table saw he was to stand at the end of the bar and not come any closer. As I would cut he would slowly creep little by little down the bar untill I would stop the saw, make him return to the end and the process would start again.
It was working out okay untill I got too busy with a series of cuts and turned to the bench for an assembly and the saw fires up. I spin around to see Jason, his eyes as big as saucers and his little hand just inches from the blade. He ran straight for the end of the bar but in two steps my foot caught him square in the butt and sent him sprawling. I don't think his legs stopped moving and he was up in a flash, I caught him a second one before he raced off to his Dad.
There was a big blow up with Dad untill he understood what happend and well after that the next time I fired up the saw Jason didn't move an inch.
I learned a valuable lesson from all of this and now whenever customers bring small children to the jobsite, I introduce myself to them and have them cover their ears and stand twenty feet away whenever I use a saw, if they are unable to take direction and move any closer, they leave.
Turtleneck
Its not a smile- its a cramp