Little Mr. Goodwrench

A week ago Calvin came in and told me that he had something for me to do. One of the neighborhood kid's rip stick (its a new fangled skate board) broke. Calvin brought it to me and said, "Dad you're the best fixer so you need to fix this. I told Ethan that you would fix it with your tools." With the confidence of my sweet six year old I felt like I could conquer the world so we went into the garage to take a look-see. I'm not much of a mechanic but I am somewhat mechanically inclined so I was up for the challenge. Right away I saw a missing set screw. I showed it to Calvin and explained to him what was missing and that we would need to get a new one at the hardware store. He was ready to go that instant, but I had other work that needed to be done so I told him we'd go when we had more time. To satisfy his need to get this fixed I told him to see if he could find the missing screw out in the front of the house. He agreed and searched for as long as his little attention span would allow, about 5 minutes. I was impressed.

A few days passed and that darn toy sat on my work bench. Whenever I'd walk by, it reminded me of the enthusiasm and good helpful nature of my boy who wanted so much to do this for his friend. Finally I had an hour. I scooped up Cal and we went to the hardware store. He looked in all of the drawers and bins where the bolts are kept. He picked up the first one and said, "Here it is Dad! This is the one we need!" Then he'd see another and put the first one down and say, "No, here it is. This is the one we need!" This repeated itself about a dozen times. While that was going on I found the right bolt. I agreed that his 12th choice was the right one, switched it with the one I found, paid for it, and headed back home.

When we arrived home I told him to grab a stool because he was going to fix it. He ran as fast as he could, grabbed the stool and climbed up to the work bench. I handed him the set screws and an Allen wrench and after a little help with the first screw he did the second one all by himself. He was so proud. I was so proud. As soon as he was done he grabbed the board and took it out to his friend. He set it on the ground at his feet and said, "There. It's all fixed." The boy thanked him as he got on it and rode down the street.

This little boy saw a need and tended to it. He didn't do it because he broke it, he didn't do it because he could possibly ride it, he doesn't even know how to. He did it because in his eyes it just needed done. Calvin then turned and walked back to me grinning ear to ear.  At that moment of realization I was grinning from tear to tear. My boy.