He said yes.

So today he mixed seventeen 30 Kg bags of concrete mix two at a time in a wheelbarrow with a mortar hoe by himself.

We set this foundation slab for a wheelchair lift I bought used and am working on installing for my father.

I think the teachers at his Catholic high school will be ok with this absence.

    • MapleEngineerOPMEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      Thanks. It’s the first time I’ve done concrete in about 20 years and the first time I’ve done a slab.

  • BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works
    3·
    1 year ago

    please excuse MapleEngineer Jr’s absence yesterday. He had come down with a concrete illness but is much better now, although his arms and shoulders may be sore for a few days

    It’s good to teach the kids manual labor. We do the same thing, although I don’t think that we have had truancy as a result… Yet anyway.

    • MapleEngineerOPMEnglish
      5·
      1 year ago

      He’s a very good student and his teachers like him. I made sure that he wasn’t missing anything important. I think it’s a good thing to get some experience with difficult jobs with your father.

      • BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        1 year ago

        I’m sure he’s an excellent student, I wasn’t calling you a bad parent or something. I also didn’t say that I haven’t taken a kid home early for other, less serious, reasons.

        Mixing concrete is an important skill, even more important is it to understand the value of both hard labor and lending a hand when needed. I bet mixing that much concrete provided a bit of extra confidence as well.

        • MapleEngineerOPMEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          None taken. We have always believed that learning outside of school is at least as important as learning in school. Our kids get lots of learning opportunities that their peers don’t get by virtue of my job and the extensive travel associated with it. I’ve already my son’s teachers that he’s going to be away for a week in January or February because he’s going with me to a meeting then we’re going ocean fishing.

          Our daughter missed 52 days one year and finished with straight As. One of her teachers wrote that it was obvious that she was getting learning experiences that her classmates were not. We don’t let school get in the way of our kids education.