A couple of weeks ago I changed a tire for my
neighbor and her sixteen year old daughter. Neither of them had any idea how to go about it. They were completely lost, reading the owner's manual of the car, couldn't figure out how to work the
jack, much less where to put it under the car. There was no way they would be able to do it themselves.
I learned the same day that my wife simply didn't know how to throw a ball. She threw like a girl, so I teased her about it. She got upset and told me that no one had ever shown her how to throw a ball. I taught her how to throw a baseball, then a football. She was actually pretty good, once she was taught the proper technique.
I am the father of a beautiful four year old daughter, and these realizations troubled me a great deal. What if my daughter was stuck somewhere all alone and had to change her tire? What if her oil light came on?
I then resolved to make sure that my daughter knows the following:
- How to change a tire
- How to check/change the car's fluids
- How to barbeque
- How to drive a manual transmission
- How to throw a ball
- How to work basic tools:
All of the electronics/computer stuff that I can pass along.
Most importantly, I will teach her that she is beautiful, and that
hate is ugly.