When Grandson Casey (the Marine) was in his pre-teen and teen years, he didn't show much interest in the things I was doing.

Happy to ride the ATV I kept running for him, no interest in learning to fix or adjust it himself.

Happy to have me help him build a dog house, no interest in the whys and hows of how it was built.

Not much interest at all in guns when he found out Gramp wasn't about to turn him loose with no supervision.

Well, now he's married, two little boys of his own and he's hip deep into all of these things.

He calls/texts me for advice on power tools and just bought his first compound miter saw. He's building speaker enclosures for his buddies and doing a darn nice job of it from what I can see. Built a set of bunk beds for the boys complete with a slide to get from the top bunk to the floor. Bitching about not having enough room in his garage for the bench he'd really like to build.

Bought a pair of hammered up mini-ATV's and created one good one out of the pair for the wife and boys. 110cc Suzuki of some sort, major engine work required. Again, many phone calls and texts for advice from The Old Fart.

Got into guns (well, Glocks... ) and suddenly developed an interest in reloading. Got a Lee Classic Turret and turrets and dies for .380 and .45ACP, just got off the phone with him with some questions on loads and crimping. Also has the hots for a Ruger SP101 so there's hope.

I gotta say I'm gratified. Whether or not his early exposure to such things whilst hanging around with Gramps has anything to do with his current interests, I choose to think so.

Which brings up another point: Be careful what you say and do around kids, you never know when they might be paying attention...

You deservedly sound like a proud grandfather.

Ain't it amazing how parents and grandparents suddenly become wise when jr turns 24 or 25?

Glad to hear that and your love/hard work paid off. I was the same way as a teenager. Well, I loved guns but didn't car about fixing cars or building things. Now I have many many more guns, work on cars a lot, and keep filling my garage with tools and have to walk over them most of the time.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Some old Jewish Proverb...

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
< snip >

Got into guns (well, Glocks... )

< snip >

YWBAG.

QED.

Actually, he bought a Glock while he was up here visiting and I (and if you repeat this I'll deny it...) shot it and liked it!

Shot pretty nice groups for a strange gun and a serious lack of practice over the last several years.

I could actually see me getting one if I wanted another 9mm.

He has since traded the 9 towards a .45, also a Glock.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
He has since traded the 9 towards a .45, also a Glock.

He is on the right train, but should've stayed on one more stop (i.e. 10mm).

Grandparents are awesome. They can have a very strong influence on grandkids. You did good and is an encouragement for those wondering if their influence is received or not.

He's lucky to have you, sir. Good work.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Some old Jewish Proverb...

Proverbs 22:6

When I got into some trouble when I was a teenager, my mother asked my father about this verse. The way she asked her question, it was like she was wondering what went wrong. I ansered, "Well, I'm not old yet."