I Did It Myself!!

Mom said I used to shriek, "I'll do it myself!" back in toddler days when learning to dress or get in the car. Those of you who know me now, I am sure, can not imagine I would have started that so young. ;)

Yesterday I completed another do-it-myself project. I assembled a bathroom cabinet from its tiny pieces. The entire time I was struggling with the drill or putting pieces on backwards or trying to decide which way the hinges go, I kept hearing my son in the background going, "Mom! Do it this way! No. That's not going to work. Try it... Oh... What are you...oh, I can't watch this!" He has rather a condescending attitude when it comes to me and tools. When he was about ten he was surprised to learn that I knew how to use a screwdriver to remove and replace circuit boards in our server at work.

I could just imagine his pain. But you know, there are things that dads and brothers and sons just don't bother to teach their daughters and sisters and mothers, whereas they share knowledge with each other generously. It's as though we are not worth the bother, not worth the investment because we are not capable if learning that sort of thing.

I have found this in the workplace as well. The most notorious example that comes to mind is the DBA walking past me looking for "the guys" to go tell them that the database had gone down. I was working intensely on a large SQL job at the time, but it had not crossed his mind, although I was co-leading the data warehouse project, that he should share that news with me. I was utterly amazed. That was not 30 years ago, it was 2008.

Anyway, I am still learning, and yes, I learned new tricks. I know how to use cam bolts now. I had never seen those before. And the cabinet turned out great!