What a very interesting thread! I just found it. I hope you don't mind a woman's input?
I am so blessed to be married to a man who has his own business, AND we live in the country. He values teaching his sons things so highly that they are with him most hours of the day they're not in school. When he's working in the shop, they're out there cleaning/wiping down. Now the older ones help cut metal and debur parts (husband is a machinist).
He used to spend hours in the shop, before the boys were old enough to help him...now we have animals--of all varieties--and a large garden. He also helps his dad farm and manage his woods. Needless to say, the boys are always included. Just the other day they all helped butcher our beef bull...and my 8 year old son butchered, plucked, and gutted his first chicken today. They can milk, mow, hoe, drive tractors, take care of animals, sweep, wash vehicles, stack wood, hook up machinery, etc. ALL because my husband gave his time and energy to teach them. Our oldest is 11, and we have 6 boys. A lot for one man to handle, all at once. And yes, there's often a lot of yelling involved (he's not a saint!) BUT all our sons have very high work ethics and high standards of quality workmanship.
They're encouraged to take up as hobbies what interests them. One son loves butchering (the 8 year old!), another enjoys wood-working. One excels at technical drawings.
They're also taught to persevere in jobs that are unpleasant. Like hoeing/weeding in summer humidity. Milking in 0-25 degree weather every morning. Waiting a couple hours to eat dinner in order to finish a job, etc.
A lot of times when a woman is searching for a husband, she's looking for a man who will be a good father/provider for her future children. It's pretty hard to know exactly what kind of a father a man will be, until he actually becomes one. In this case, I was certainly blessed.
My husband has his faults, but he's an EXCELLENT father. If our sons turn out to be as good a man as he is...I'll be one very proud mother!
Sounds like a lot of fun. I'd love to have a neighbor like that, I'd be there with the children learning whatever I don't know. I live to learn new things. In my experience, by the time they are 13 they'll be able to do everything well. Today, with YouTube they can learn and undertake things that I do not know about. I've been doing things the last 14 years that I knew nothing about. Although I did have the background to undertake them.
Topic: Trad Fathers Doing Nothing for Their Sons (Read 2821 times)