Bella and I where fixing an electric heater tonight.
It was being tossed, so it was tossed in my direction because I guess I am known for collecting junk. Anyway, I’ve been wanting one for Bella’s room on them really cold nights. We’ve been kicking up the thermostat a degree or two and it seems to do the trick, but she’s about as far away from the furnace as you can get in my house.
She was so good watching me take the heater apart. I would show her a tool and tell her what I was doing. She seemed as genuinely interested as any 7 month old could about anything. I think she just liked all the ‘toys’ and movement. The fan just needed some oil on the fan motor bushings, so it took just a few minutes to fix.
Before putting it back together, I washed the only part big enough that she couldn’t swallow it. She was quite happy with the toy! She determined that the fan failed initially because it wasn’t properly taste-tested. She can now claim to have helped fix the space heater.
Last night the two of us tried to install a remote control for the fan in my room that was given to me. Mamma was cooking, so I was watching Bella. I was a bit concerned with how I had this rigged up for testing, but she was pretty interested in her bottle and the mirror I had set her beside by this point in the testing. She tolerated this pretty well. Never did get the fan control working.
Last week, the two of us where working on the treadmill I picked up from freecycle. She wasn’t so much loving this. She only lasted about 20 minutes. To her credit, it was kinda chilly in the basement and her bottle was empty. The speed control was burnt out. $60 for a new controller board. Eventually I will save up to get it. Hopefully the motor isn’t shorted or something to cause the controller board to fail like this. $60 for a treadmill in good shape is a great deal.
I am hoping that I can get Bella interested in fixing stuff. The hobby is so important to me, it would be so much fun to have somebody to wrench on the cars with. The boys will think it’s pretty cool too when she gets old enough for that to matter to her.
She is one lucky kid to have you as her dad. I remember and cherish those times with my dad as well. I’ve built bookshelves with him, completely tear down our van to the last screw, painted and put everything back together. Did electic work, plumbing, etc. And I loved every single bit of it.