My son is 6 years old now, and this is a tool I use all the time. I enjoy working on my house and car, and I finally realized about two years ago that it was far easier to teach my son the names of the tools and have him help me, instead of get ticked off that he had his hands in the tool box.

Now he is Daddy’s little helper, and the time we spend together is great. My job is easier when I don’t have to get out from under the car for a screwdriver, and he really enjoys helping, and I think more than that the idea of being productive.

I see parents who just yell at their kids every time they get close to something think is dangerous. That is no way to raise children.

Sometimes it works out strangely though (cute kid story warning). We took my son home to his first Christmas in America this year. My mom was making Christmas cookies, and he was helping. He kept using the cookie cutter shaped like a cross. We go to church a few times a year, if that, but my mom though he was really religious because he kept going back to the cross shaped cutter.

When my mom finally tried to get it away from him for good, he said, ‘No grandma…Sword! Sword!’, and swung the cutter around in the air, holding it form the short end.