I can do it

Henry is into do-it-yourself projects.

I bought him a ball of twine at a garage sale. It was .10. I have not seen a ball of twine anywhere else – not that I’ve looked (and where would they be? – a hardware or craft store?) and have no idea what they might cost (1.95? 2.95)? I only knew as I bought it that he’s been into rope since his grandpa let him bring in a rope from the garage and would likely enjoy the twine.

Henry immediately set about to throw the ball as a way of unraveling it, so I see that a little instruction is necessary and start by holding the ball while he walks with it, then “Can you walk to the tree?”

Once he got to the tree it was a done deal. He can’t tie yet, but he knows if he wraps the twine around the tree enough times it will stay. Then coming back, I had to suggest the cabin doorknob for a second tying place. From there we were off and running, making things open and close. When grandpa got home he quickly threw more twine over a tree branch to make a pulley and left again. Donny and I both thought Henry would play contentedly with the pulley for hours. But Henry says, “I can do that Umma,” and spends the next hour not playing with the pulley, but trying to do what he’d seen grandpa do – throw the twine over high tree limbs.

Then he asks, “Umma, can I get the rope out of the tool drawer in your desk?” I’m surprised he knows I have one and don’t remember him exploring it or a rope being inside. I go look. It’s a synch – one of those rubbery tools with heavy ends that hook, the kind you use to hold down the trunk of your car when you’re carrying something that doesn’t fit. With instruction in how to use it, he takes off by himself, leaving the woods and climbing the swing set to work on the little tree-house-like portion that sits atop the slide, throwing the “rope” over something more manageable than high tree limbs.

I’m worried about him hitting himself in the head so I intervene once again and we end up synching onto the top piece of lumber and using the line to climb the slide and then to repel. By the time the rest of the family is home and he proudly wants to show off this new feat, he’s too excited (or maybe tired) to do it the way he’d already done it a dozen times, but he’s still proud of himself.

He’s in Montessori school and the motto on the door says to never do something for a child that he thinks he is capable of doing himself. Within the limits of preventing injury, you encourage the “I can do it.”

It got me wondering about myself and the things I run away from. The feeling of “I can’t do it,” or “I can’t say that.” Henry does it too. He gets frustrated with one thing and moves on to the next. He’ll return to the one he got frustrated with when his skill set (or his size) is a little bigger. He can do more when he’s fresh than when he’s tired. I don’t judge it. He doesn’t judge it.