My 99 year old mother and my 2 year old grandson have something in common. They are both fans of This Old House. My mother says she remembers all the house building they did during her marriage. My dad was an educator, but his hobby was building or fixing up our houses. He was a jack of all trades. He would have loved This Old House, but he lived it rather than watching it. Widowed since 1982, my mom didn't do much building for the last half of her life, but she remembers helping Dad.
My grandson doesn't watch much television. He is mostly a Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood fan. He sings all the songs. But, sometimes his parents let him watch This Old House with them. My son makes some home improvements on their house. They like to get ideas from This Old House. My grandson apparently takes in more of the home improvements than I would expect from a two year old.
He got a toy tool kit for Christmas and he does "projects." Recently he has been underneath the dining room table with the toy screwdriver, hammer and drill doing a project. In a modern twist that I imagine is copied from observing his daddy fixing things, Grandson also brings his toy cell phone and lays it with the tools and picks it up to consult it from time to time.
Transference of learning though is my interest as an educator/ Grandma. When Grandson was at my house last weekend, the overhead light in the playroom burned out. Because we couldn't do much in there in the dark, I decided to see if I could replace the light easily. So, I went and got the ladder. Grandson immediately said that "Grandma do a project." And he ran to get the old batter's helmet that had been his daddy's and put it on. Apparently they helmet up on This Old House when they do a project. After I had changed the light and put the ladder away, Grandson took the batter's helmet off. Always good to be prepared and safe. Especially when Grandma is doing a project in her oldish house.
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