This article is cracking me up. I don't think any of my toys escaped my screwdriver.
Hah! I did the same thing to my parents when I was about 5. They took me to a museum and the only thing I was interested in was all the pipes and conduit hung from the ceiling. I'm 33 now and my mother still tells that story to people!
It is very interesting to watch our children growing with different abilities and different interests. To parents all kids are briliant and that may be true.
However, to brand one's kid at so early age is not good premonition. At this tender age they should be given more wider exposure to different possiblities. Also in place of branding and binding them with (sometime) your own inner desire is not desirable practice.
All kids should be given carte blanche to pursue what they dream to be correct and support them in fulfulling their dreams.
Great story, Glenn, and it rings so familiar. The part about the teacher, especially. I too remember countless times, at school and even at home sometimes, when what I might have been obsessing over was deemed trivial. This is more common in grade school, I think, before you get to the more nerdy/techie teachers who might occasionally actually share your interests.
Which is what I find so refreshing about Caleb's attitude. Impressive. I too strived to show interest in and encourage my daughter, from the time she first demonstrated where her interests were. Which happens at an incredibly young age. Easily by the time they're 1 year old.
Yes, it too was interested in sprinkler systems. When I was four, my father installed a sprinkler system in our new house. (New house, bare yard). When we went to nearby Sears store, I would go to the plumbing department to look at sprinkler parts, and even explain to other customers what to do with them.
In Kindergarten, I would design sprinkler systems with Tinker-toys (everyone here remembers them, right?). My teacher didn't like that, though, and I was told not to do it.
Some time later when I had another one designed, she commented on how nice it was, and asked about it. When told it was a sprinkler system design, she then didn't like it anymore. And I still remember that 50 years later!
Even before that, I was interested in electrical things, since I was about two.
My father is a physicist, so he understood my pretty early, but not everyone did.
What a story. I found myself captivated to your narrative and cruel outcomes life sometimes unfolds to all of us.
But I am really glad to hear your middle son seems to be better lately with the help of meds.
Medical science advances leaps and bounds every year. Let's keep faith in the development of science. More importantly, though, reading between the lines -- the way you told your story, I can tell what a great, caring Dad you are to your kids.
They hoped I would love all the pretty flowers and plants, but I was only interested in tracing the paths of the pipes in the sprinkler system. (This is good practice for working with multi-layer PC boards.)
wow, this is a great story... that's definitely a clue!
My parents are both humanities types: Art History and English Lit. They discovered that I would be an engineer when I was about 3 years old and took me to the Botanical Gardens. They hoped I would love all the pretty flowers and plants, but I was only interested in tracing the paths of the pipes in the sprinkler system. (This is good practice for working with multi-layer PC boards.)
My grandfather was an engineer, so it skipped a generation. My two daughters are both technically adept and highly skilled in using computers, but neither showed any interest in becoming an engineer. They went into Art and Art History, like my dad -- even though their other grandpa was an engineer.
What are the engineering and design challenges in creating successful IoT devices? These devices are usually small, resource-constrained electronics designed to sense, collect, send, and/or interpret data. Some of the devices need to be smart enough to act upon data in real time, 24/7. Specifically the guests will discuss sensors, security, and lessons from IoT deployments.