Family Affair

[Investmentdude]

So I have been scrounging for wood for my yet to be installed wood stove for our porch. Plenty of rounds have come to me . I’ve been spitting and stacking. My 18 year old son came out one day and joined in. I taught him how to hold the splitter, bring it up in one motion and bring it down with force. My 13 year old daughter is totally into it, using a 3lb hammer to drive a wedge in a round and then the sledge to split it. Five minutes ago I had my son and daughter splitting wood with me. It’s great to have the family bonding with this.

 

[fvhowler]

That's awesome! While I love to split wood, my kids never showed interest in it. Yet, my grandmother loved to split wood. Like many things, there is a natural interest in processing firewood and wood burning in general. It must skip a generation in our family ; )

Enjoy that quality time with the kiddos.

 

[bigealta]

Just make sure to teach them not to put their face near the maul/wedge/axe if it gets stuck and they try to pull it out. Wranglestar has a vid where his wife loses her front teeth when the stuck maul springs out. She's a bloody mess. I'll try to find it.

Found it 1:35 for shot of her face

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[DonTee]

Last year my wife ran the wood splitter quite a bit. She really enjoyed it.

My kids help move and stack the firewood to dry. And during the winter they help bring it in and stack it on the rack in the house.

I quiz the kids on the different wood species. Last time I put 6 different hardwoods in front of them. They had to ID them from the bark and grain. They actually did pretty good. Haha.

My wife calls me a firewood geek. Lol.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

My son and I do everything together on our property. He does all the wood, gardening, weeding, cleanup, wood shed projects with me. Hes now at the poing where hes able to operate the machinery with out close supervision. He just turned 14 this past spring. This past week we were sitting out back after I got done work with a cold drink and he remarks on how pretty our yard is and how proud he is to live here. He likes and sees the value of the hard work he puts in, that all the wood we have doesn’t go to the energy company and instead we use it for trips like Hersheypark or Disney. He remarks on how much more comfortable the house is with the stove on. That some of the projects we've done the past year has made wood processing in general easier.
I do my best not to over work him, that it's not full days.. He will get up early in the morning, get himself ready, work until early afternoon then wants to be done and do other things. There are many days were out on the scrounge in the woods and he will pull out a meat and cheese platter while I make hot coco on the camp stove. We will take a nice break and just talk and hang out.. One of his favorite crackers... Ritz with spicy salami and extra sharp cheddar..

 

[ClintonH]

I love 'shooters'--Ritz with horseradish and peanut butter. It cleans out the sinuses and is great especially if you're imbibing heavily. Sounds like your son is on a great trajectory. Educator here--working and taking pride/ownership is all-too-often lost among our youth today, I am afraid. Keep at it and stay warm (once it's cold that is).

Cheers,
C