Home Depot Day

Slice of Life: Day 4

The first of the month is always Home Depot day in our house. The store offers a free workshop for kids to use hammers and screwdrivers to build some kind of craft.  My son loves it!

Before we even get in the store we have to stop and sit on the tractors. Every time. No matter what. We enter the store and you can already hear the thwacking of hammers against the makeshift plywood tables.  Luke enters wearing his orange Home Depot apron, just like the workers except his has a collection of 20 plus pins. One for every completed project. We take our seat atop an orange painter’s bucket and get to work.

     This has always been a family effort. My husband reviews the directions and gets ready to build.  He is the engineer, so this is always my out!  Luke lays out all the nails and screws.  I am in charge of helping to aim the hammer as my son pulls back the hammer ready to strike the nail my husband is holding.  I always cringe thinking, “Who thought giving toddlers a hammer would be a good idea?!”  I half hold my breath praying, “Please don’t miss and hit Dad’s finger because that will be the end of this!”

     As Dad and son work together, I take the time to people watch, one of my favorite things to do!  There are the parents that do all the building themselves and their child sits and watches.  There are the parents that come with others and use the time to socialize completely unaware of their own children.  There are the parents that come with more than one and are forced to multi-task and build two at a time!  There are the frustrated parents who read the directions wrong and are trying to pull out the nail and make their creation work…

     Once the building is complete, it is time to paint!  This is where I jump in to help.  I love watching my son meticulously paint making sure to get the paint in every nook and cranny.  I am there to help wipe away the paint drips and get rid of the excess paint so it doesn’t take all day to dry.  Then all at once my son proclaims, “I’m done!”, and he gets up to go get his pin.

     There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing his sense of pride in completing something.  I love that we, as a family, can work together to build something and enjoy spending the time together.  Every Home Depot project we have at home is a reminder of the fun we can have as a family doing the things that each of us enjoy!  We’ll see what the next Home Depot day has in store for us!