I’m guessing that most of you who read that entry title uttered, “Yeah, you and me both, pal.” So I know I’m not alone in this.
I feel competing urges. On the one hand, woodworking is great. It’s a fun hobby, and even though I make countless mistakes and sub-par attempts at anything I do, I can see progress. And that’s rewarding. On the other hand, my family is great. I love them, they love me, and at the end of the day I feel the best when I’ve spent some good time with my wife and kids.
My wife is very patient with me. She knows I have the pull to the shop. Right now, she’s maybe a bit more patient because she knows that the primary thing I’m doing is something for her. But even if I was just doing stuff for my own benefit, she would support it. Still, when my wife spends most of the week taking care of our kids, it seems quite selfish to assume that she should do the same thing on the weekends, instead of me giving her a break for a change.
I think one of the best things I can do at this point is to do woodworking in small chunks. So after dinner, I go excuse myself and make a few cuts, or a glue-up, or some measuring and planning. Half hour or so. Then I’m back. On the weekends, I might be able to take a bit more time.
What do you guys do?
6 comments
Comments feed for this article
March 19, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Chris G
I play xbox every night from 6-10pm. It’s relaxing.
March 21, 2008 at 5:05 pm
MorningWood
Anytime I can get in the shop, I just do it. Primarily because I am still in the process of building my shop and I have tons more to do. My wife is very supportive of my “hobby” because she is the one who got me started in it. (she wants lots of stuff built) As far as the kids go, they are at an age where all they want to do is play xbox from 6-10pm. They claim that it is relaxing. I find it just the opposite. I want to throw and break things when I play xbox. Still fun though
March 21, 2008 at 5:06 pm
MorningWood
No, Chris G is not one of my kids.
March 22, 2008 at 11:52 am
darrylm
I have some of the same guilt that you are talking about. My wife has been very supportive. My two youngest daughters want to work on projects of their own now, so each night after dinner I try and take some time to work with them on their stuff.
March 22, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Eric
I think that’s what I’m thinking. The older my kids get (right now, they’re only 4.5 and 3), the more I want to involve them in the shop. That way you get quality kid time and shop time (maybe not quality, but nice anyway) all at the same time.
March 26, 2009 at 10:17 am
Gye Greene
Little chunks of time seem to be the way to go.
And, if you have a dedicated shop space (as you do), you don’t lose time to set-up and break-down.
(I haven’t set up my music gear in our “new” place — lived here about two years — but back in the day, I’d find that I could get 15-30 minutes of [electric] guitar practice if everything was all set up. Otherwise I found that it took 5-10 minutes to get everything out of their storage boxes and plug in… and 5-10 minutes to pack up… sooo…)
–GG