Strength In Assistance In Woods Class

What do you get the world’s greatest mom? What do you do when you’re only in middle school and have a physical disability to make the perfect gift for the world’s greatest mom? What do you do with power tools?

Shop class was one of those classes which any boy looks forward to (and some girls). Time to finally get the chance to play with the big boy toys. Power tools cause that Tim Taylor grunt in all of us. I too looked forward to just grabbing those tools and having some fun being creative. I wanted to skip the “how” I was going to do it part of the equation and jump right into the actual doing.

On the flip side, the shop teacher was worrying about the “how”. Offer me a chainsaw and the strength in my arms, I’d probably be more apt to cut off my own leg or someone standing next to me instead of the tree that needs cutting down. So taking all safety precautions into consideration, I’m sure the shop teacher would have loved to just have me sit out on certain projects. But that was not on my mind. I do not let things get in my way. There has to be something that can be done.

Call him different names, teachers assistance, personal assistance, personal care attendant, or simply friend. These are the types of people it is good to have around. A great leader once said, I don’t know everything to run this business, but I hire the best people who do. When the problem came up as to how best to incorporate me in shop class, an assistant was the answer.

When it came to power saws and having the strength to pound in nails, I had some help. Would you call this an advantage over my classmates? Some would, but they would be wrong. It is about leveling the playing field. Using the things and people around us for the optimum effect. With my gift for my mom, I did do the work, but had assistance on a few things.

Cutting the boards, I pushed the table saw, but had assistance holding the wood so it wouldn’t go flying across the room and bust out yet another window in the class.  Pounding the nails in, I had help holding the hammer and adding a little extra force. By the way, no fingers were harmed in the making of this woodwork. The rest of the project was sanding and staining, done all by myself, including staining myself. (Just in case you were wondering where that extra shine came from.)

The gift, a flower pot holder, for my mom still sits in the living room of my mom’s house. It was some what of a group effort, but sometimes the best things in life are a collaboration of the best people. I appreciate the help I got, but I love the opportunity to be as independent at building this gift and getting help as I needed, not because I needed. Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and other mom’s who have helped instill a positive spirit and drive to go forth and conquer any obstacle that gets in the way.