Punchy,Today I built a co sleeper for you that goes next to our bed. It was not a hard thing to build but I am pretty proud of it. Your mom and I both like to build and make things. There is something about taking a pile of wood, or fabric, or what have you and making it into something that is different from that. It may not always be the best, or something I feel I would sell in a store, but there is a lot of pride in building or making something for yourself. This co sleeper may not be around longer than a few months after you are born, but I feel very proud of how it turned out.
There are lots of things that I am sure will be around while you are growing up that were made by your mom, or her family, or me, or my grandma. Last week we made part of my Henry VIII costume from a basic design and the fabric we bought for it. Like making things out of wood where at one time you a pile of wood then with some work you have a throne, or a table, or a bench. Something that comes from the pile of wood suddenly becomes something you can use. Something that was once a piece of fabric, through some work, becomes something you can wear, or something to sleep under, or a curtain or the cover for that bench. There is a level of pride in seeing the finished product and knowing that you built it with your own hands.
Your mom enjoys making and decorating cakes. The same thing applies there. You have a pile of ingredients and when you are done you have a cake, or bread, or in my case, beer.
When I was growing up, we used to make and build all kinds of things. One afternoon when I was 11 I presented to my mom on why I should have a clubhouse, the next day your uncle Corey and I built a little clubhouse out of scrap wood we had at the house I lived in. It was not much, but we built it off the side of a shed, with a ox on the front that must have been for a Bathtub or something. It was a proud moment when we were done with it and I could say, I built that.
When I was in elementary school, over the breaks they had some classes that we could take and learn some things like wood working. One of the things I made in one of the classes was a pig cutting board that your Grandma Judy still has, the tail has fallen off, but it was something I make out of a piece of wood.
When I was a bit older, we made a lot of things our of Legos. Though they do not have the functionality of a cutting board or a chair or a bench, they are easy and fun to build with. Sometimes making something out of what looks like nothing definitely can be something to be proud of. Most of the time now, I make things out of wood. Your mom makes a lot of things out of food, or fabric but at the end of the day, there is really something to be said for seeing a piece of wood, or fabric, or anything and seeing more in it than it's current state.
That is the way it is for people too. Sometimes people may not look like much just like a piece of dirty wood, but to the person who can see that potential, and is willing to spend the time and energy, helping develop it, help shape it, goes the joy of knowing you helped make it happen.
Always look for the good, and look for the potential in things son.
-Dad
