Dads: Teach Electronics to your Kids

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My Three Dads

Yesterday was Fathers Day. I feel very lucky because I didn’t grow up with one father, I grew up with three fathers. My father, my stepfather and my godfather. All three had a presence and an important role in my life. I am eternally grateful to them. My dad was a career lawyer (pictured above right), and was always quite busy (he’s 76 and still not fully retired). He was there as a great provider and a role model, but he was not the kind of dad who would sit down and play with me, do home projects or spend too much time in my world. Thanks to him I grew up in a nice home with everything I needed, I learned good values, I had unforgettable summers of fun at camp, I learned tennis, I had private ski lessons and a season pass every winter, I got to go to a private high school, and I didn’t pay a dime for University. I’m only scratching the surface here, of course. Thanks Dad.

My godfather was also important to me. My godparents are family friends and I would spend a few weekends a year with them. He was always full of great advice and wisdom, he was fun, and it was thanks to his purchase of the original Macintosh in 1984 that I fell in love with computers. His son was also my childhood best friend, and my godfather treated me like a son. He was also there to listen to me and support me when I had a tough decision to make about my studies and my career. He taught me to follow my dreams. Thanks Pierre-André.

My parents got divorced when I was 9, which is about the age I was when my stepdad entered my life (pictured above left), and I entered his. I know that many unfortunately grew up in a life of conflict with stepparents, but I was blessed to have experienced the most “amicable and stable” divorce you could have for your parents. Both my mom and dad found new soul mates shortly after their separation – and have been with them since – for over 30 years now. My stepdad became that dad that spends time with you, plays with you, listens to you, works on projects with you, and gives you his full attention. We did video projects together – from live action to stop-motion LEGOs. He built a tree house at our summer cottage for me. He did so much renovation work for my new bedroom in the basement, or new apartment, or new house. He filmed and created unforgettable video montages of so many happy moments of my life – including my wedding video. He did so much more, and he always treated me like his own son. Thanks Gaëtan.

Yesterday was also a special Fathers Day for me: it was my first “real” one as a dad. My kids were born shortly before Fathers Day last year but they came early and spent a few weeks in the hospital NICU. I was a father already but I was not truly taking care of them yet, we had an amazing staff of nurses and doctors to do that. Today my kids are 1 and it really felt like Fathers Day. Every since my wife got pregnant I’ve been reflecting on the kind of dad I want to be, in essence striving to take the best of my 3 dads and adding my own touch.

This post is not about how to be a good dad. I barely know that myself and I’ll be learning how to be one for the rest of my life. This post is about one special thing amongst a million that you can do to be a great dad: spend time with your kids and teach them electronics.

Left photo courtesy of MightyOhm

My First Electronic Kit

I got my first electronics kit in my early teens. It was a birthday gift from my stepdad. It was one of those popular Science Fair Electronic Project Labs by Tandy | Radio Shack. Mine was the awesome “160 choses à faire” (French for 160-in-1). Oh man, I had so much fun with this. For years I played with it. It was one of those things I could easily pack and bring with me to our cottage. It was safe thanks to these little coils letting you easily connect components without soldering. It was fun, I felt like I could create anything. I learned some electronics basics with it, but I also learned to read carefully. I was learning by reading, but it didn’t feel like homework because it was fun. And I learned patience. Some of those projects could get quite complex, requiring a lot of wiring. And I learned debugging, a skill that I still use today, which also requires a lot of patience. I would many times make a mistake when wiring a project, and I’d have to backtrack and figure out where I went wrong.

Continue reading "Dads: Teach Electronics to your Kids" and learn more about great electronic kits for your kids at Age of Mobility here.

Comments

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    June 22, 2014
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