Never under-estimate the abilities of a young man...

I was doing some work this last Saturday at my desk when my 10 year old son came to me and said, "Dad, can I fix the lawn mower?".

I thought for a moment that the responsible answer probably was "wait until I can do it with you" but I considered the fact that the likely outcome would be he would get stuck in the process and come back to me to help bail him out. A negative outcome seemed unlikely so I told him to go for it.

I expected to hear from him shortly that he needed help.

Sure enough he came to ask for help but it was not for help in fixing the machine. He needed help to put gas in the mower to test it because he thought he had it fixed.

I went down to put some gas in the machine to help him "test" the fix. I was more than impressed to see that he had unplugged the spark plug prior to working on the mower. Once it was gassed up and plugged we got it started and sure enough, he had fixed it.

The problem was the auto drive on the front wheels stopped working while back on the farm. I never bothered to fix it as I figured it was a good work out to push the mower, like old-school.

My son was however determined to fix it. Not because he wanted an easier mowing experience but because he knew it was broken and it just needed to be fixed.

He has shown the same mechanical skills in less complicated systems such as our family's bikes which he tinkers with and fixes most issues. This was definitely a step up in complexity for sure and he actually fixed it!

He was excited to say the least.

I was more than impressed with my son's accomplishment and wanted to share it with others.

Lesson learned.

Do not under-estimate the abilities of a determined young man...