Eric Stromer - Do-It-Yourself Family: Fun and Useful Home Projects the Whole Family Can Make Together

DO-IT-YOURSELF FAMILY
A Bantam Book / May 2006

Published by Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York

All rights reserved
Copyright 2006 by Eric Stromer
Illustrations copyright 2006 by Eric Stromer
Cover photograph copyright 2006 by Taili Song Roth
Cover design by Beverly Leung

Book design by Glen M. Edelstein

Bantam Books and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stromer, Eric.
Do-it-yourself family : fun and useful home projects the whole family can make together/
Eric Stromer.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-48392-8
1. Woodwork. 2. House furnishings. 3. Creative activities and seat work.
I. Title.
TT180.S77 20
643.7 22 2006040662

www.bantamdell.com

v3.1

DEDICATED TO Amy, Wyatt, and Dusty. Thank you for teaching me to be a better man.

And to Erv, Sally, and Kurt, thanks for making my childhood such a blast.

To Sheryl and Yfat, thanks for making this project rock.

And to Peter and Philip, thanks for making it roll!

I have often thought of family life as a great unwinnable battle, complete with strategies, battle plans, troop movements, victories, and of course, occasional total and complete failure and humiliation.

For any who disagree, try loading a family of four (two children, ages two and seven) into a car with an imposed time limit (morning car pool!) and tell me youre not engaged in a major military operation. And do I even need to mention getting the kids to clean up their rooms? I didnt think so. What about that great and elusive mystery of the agesquality family time? If your home is anything like mine, quality is on the endangered list.

On the other hand, I am fortunate enough to have met a woman who, in a moment of insanity, decided to accept my marriage proposal, and then willingly bore my beautiful, yet sometimes challenging, children. The topper is that Amy remains true to her principles as the center and strength of our family unit.

After seeing my home disintegrate into total chaos one too many times, our crazy experiences encouraged me to jot down a few useful ideas for home and hearth improvement. Once put in place, these solutions didnt exactly transform our home overnight, but theyve made a huge difference in the way we enjoy one another. Interested? Thought so. Read on for my personal DIY Family Dream Team solutions for every room in the house!

My notion to involve the family in my home improvement plans came to me as my son Dusty entertained himself by hurling his brothers toys at my head. Meanwhile, my older son, Wyattthe rightful owner of said toyswas screaming that he didnt have anything to play with. Suddenly, I thoughtvoil!if my kids have so much free time, why not train them to serve as my very own Dream Team?

After all, doing hands-on projects together was how I got to really know my dad. Sure, he said many things to me, but none resonated more than when we were together building stuff. We didnt even need to talk; but the more we worked together, the more I gained a sense of who he was and who I wanted to be. Based on this experience, what evolved was a desire to draw my family closer through projects we could make together.

Plus, because my wife and I have such hectic professional lives, we made a joint decision not to allow our home to be overrun by super-slick commercial messages from media and commerceparticularly aimed at our children through kids programming. Instead, we turned off the tube and slowed down the pace with some good old-fashioned woodworking. Our age-appropriate projects were born. My seven-year-old, Wyatt, could obviously handle more involved tasks than my toddler could. But dont count out the mighty Dusty Stromer! I found that he could handle some hand-sanding, painting, and of course, the ever-popular picking up the spilled screws that Dad kicked over. I reveled in how much quality time we were having together, all the while producing something that would continue to serve our home life long after the project was completed. Sort of like construction and crafting meets day care.

I knew I could get my wife on board. Any interest in fixing up, organizing, or renovating our home gets me far more points than a fancy night out or a two-week getaway to a tropical paradise. It wasnt Amy I was worried aboutit was the boys! My guys have two speeds: on and off. How would I get my little band of insurgents to comply?

In the case of my family, I managed to get my kids to participate in executing my home-improvement ideas by using two key strategies. One: make the project fun, so that it combats the boredom factor. Two: include the kids in all the aspects of making the house work, so that they feel a sense of ownership in the project and its continued use.

Making the Project Fun. Ever heard of the Family Theory of Relativity? This long-accepted principle of family science (in which I have a Ph.D., did I tell you?) basically stands for the proposition that when left to their own devices, your smallest relatives (i.e., kids) will ultimately run out of things to do. This is where the Dad, Im bored problem pops up. Over and over again. In stereo. And high-definition. Having a stash of fun home-improvement ideas at the ready remedies this problem in a flash. And suddenly everyone is entertained and happy. My kids never do anything simply because theyre supposed tothey do things because they want to.

Allowing Your Kids to Take Ownership of the Solution. Freedom of speech is great in theory, except when your toddler keeps babbling, Daddy, wheres my soccer ball? Daddy, wheres my baseball bat? Daddy, wheres my ? The Daddy, where is game is never-ending. Twenty minutes of this torture is all I can take. But once I enlisted my boys efforts in creating the storage unit that houses their unused sports equipment, they easily answered their own questions, because they had enthusiastically put away their soccer ball in the first place. In other words, giving them a stake in the process of organization caused them to become willing participants and coconspirators!

Here are ten top-secret tips for keeping your troops motivated to finish once the project is under way:

1. Keep it fun.

2. Keep it simple.

3. Involve everyone, no matter what the age.

4. If the kids lose focus, give them something else to do. Mix it up!

5. Honor creativity and ingenuity; they may know how to do it better!

6. Dont be afraid to improvise.

7. Dont rush to finish. Its about the journey, not the destination.

8. Dont forget the snacks and beverages. Theres nothing worse than a cranky little woodworker with low blood sugar.

9. Dont allow the kids to compete.

10. Praise all things way too much. Who doesnt need an extra dose of self-esteem?