Do you bring your kids to cut wood?

[CowboyAndy]

My kids are 9 and 12, and 9 times out of 10 they come with me. There are several reasons why... 1 so there is someone that can go for help if needed (we cut 1/4 from my inlaws house), 2 so they can help out clearing branches/brush, loading trailer, etc and 3 because my wife works alot of evenings and weekends and getting a babysitter several times a week is just not possible. I am always safe with them, making sure they are plenty far from the tree I am about to fell and that I can see them at all times, etc. MY boy (9) usually likes being out there (but has his monents), but my girl (12) cries every time we go out (then again she cries over everything). This year we took them to six flags as a reward for working hard all summer. But, they didn't have a choice in helping, it is something they HAVE TO DO.

If you have kids that age, do you make them help, or give them the option to help if they want to?

 

[Dill]

Darn right they should help.
My daugther's only 14 months so she isn't helping yet. But I figure next year she can help stack. And will probably be helping to set chains on logs or running the splitter valve in a couple of years.
A friend of mine's son is 3 and his job is to place the split wood in the lawn tractor cart. And he takes the job seriously and won't let anyone else do it.
I didn't make an allowance when I was kid, but a got a percentage of the hay we made or got to raise up a steer or two as my own to sell for a profit. The wood was just part of the overall picture, and I'm hoping my daugther see's it the same way.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I don't have kids... that I know of... in this state...

However- my dad brought me when I was a kid (maybe 8-10 when we got a stove). It was a chore, but I didn't complain. Later I started to understand the satisfaction of a hard days work almost entirely because of moving/splitting/stacking wood. I told someone else here that it's one of the more fond memories of spending time with my dad from my youth.

I don't recall, but I think I would have appreciated it more at the time if I had the idea that I was heating the house for the family reinforced more than "You need to do this chore". I was also probably the primary fire keeper- if I knew about drying wood a bit more and how it would make my job easier- maybe I would have been more enthused as well.

 

[bayshorecs]

My 8 year old girl comes out and helps. She complains every once in awhile. We also bring her gameboy along for when she complains too much.

 

[Rick]

My 7 year old daughter likes to help me split, but only to a point. I don't drop my own trees, so I can't answer that one.

 

[smokinj]

my girls are 11 and 13 no woods for them!lol they used to

 

[sublime68charger]

my 2 year will try and help Dad due anything so sometimes he comes along and we work on things together espically if it is just hauling and stacking. He likes to unload the truck or trailer though he's stacking method leaves much to be desired.

(broken image removed)

sublime out.

I did alot of helping my folks when I was younger and thoght to my self then I'm never burning wood to heat the house and since paying $300 a month for heat in winter of 04 my wood boiler went online in November of 05 and I've heated da house and car garage with wood ever since.

 

[Jake Weaver]

My kids are not much help. My daughter does go along to my bothers to cut wood. She helps a little bit but mostly just plays with his kids. She did just turn 4 so not so bad. She does like to help drive the tractor. My son does not help at all. but he is only 15 months. Can't wait until he gets older to really help. :smirk:

 

[backpack09]

I brought my 7 month old out on my last freecycle pickup. The lady giving me the wood played with him while I loaded up the truck.

 

[Yamaha_gurl]

I used to help my dad all the time, sometimes I really hated it, cause it's just physical work. Kinda paid off in the end. He bought me a 95 vw jetta with a 1.9td engine that was pouched, he said he would fix it for me IF I spend every minute in the garage with him while he fixed it. I liked that alot better cause he would sit under the hood while I asked a million questions, I did learn quite a bit.

So I would say, if you bring your kids out to help why not teach them a thing or two while your working

 

[Mmaul]

My 2 year old and 3 year old will help load splits in the wagon for a few minutes but quickly get board, I wont make them do it they are girls but when my son gets old enough he wont have a choice.

 

[Blevesque]

My 3 year old boy is out there everytime i'm out there. He has a John Deere gator and loads the back up and hauls it up the hill to the woodpile or hauls it in the garage to bring down into the basement. Just last week we were bringing the wood into the basement and it was getting late and I said alright buddy its getting it's time to go in. He looked at me and said stop being a baby, let keep hauling wood in :lol:

 

[bayshorecs]

I used to help my dad all the time, sometimes I really hated it, cause it's just physical work. Kinda paid off in the end. He bought me a 95 vw jetta with a 1.9td engine that was pouched, he said he would fix it for me IF I spend every minute in the garage with him while he fixed it. I liked that alot better cause he would sit under the hood while I asked a million questions, I did learn quite a bit.

So I would say, if you bring your kids out to help why not teach them a thing or two while your working

OMG! A girl that likes wood stoves, diesel engines and bikes! I wonder if I still have the receipt for my wife!

 

[Adios Pantalones]

My 3 year old boy is out there everytime i'm out there. He has a John Deere gator and loads the back up and hauls it up the hill to the woodpile or hauls it in the garage to bring down into the basement. Just last week we were bringing the wood into the basement and it was getting late and I said alright buddy its getting it's time to go in. He looked at me and said stop being a baby, let keep hauling wood in :lol:

BRL- HAWW!! I love it- a real man to give you a lesson! There is hope for the next generation

 

[Blevesque]

My 3 year old boy is out there everytime i'm out there. He has a John Deere gator and loads the back up and hauls it up the hill to the woodpile or hauls it in the garage to bring down into the basement. Just last week we were bringing the wood into the basement and it was getting late and I said alright buddy its getting it's time to go in. He looked at me and said stop being a baby, let keep hauling wood in :lol:

BRL- HAWW!! I love it- a real man to give you a lesson! There is hope for the next generation

I got a kick out of that. So we stayed out there until 9pm under the lights. My wife said the next morning she had to wake him up :lol: He really does love to work. last winter at 2, his gator was in the basement and every night I'd come home to a pile of wood next to the boiler.

 

[billb3]

Hell no.
If I wanted help I'd bring the grandkids.

 

[ikessky]

I think it's good for kids to be exposed to some sort of manual labor. My 6 and 4 year olds come with me to split, load, and unload the trailor/truck. They also help stack, but I usually end up redoing their piles once they head inside!

 

[kenny chaos]

That's a real good question. My kids were raised on a farm. When they were small, I started watching to see how my friends were doing with their older kids who were expected to always help on the farm. With what I saw, I decided my kids would have the usual chores and anymore was up to them. Needless to say, I never got much help but they did grow up to be real good people.

 

[johnsopi]

My boys 8&10;come with me when I cut. They play and then help me when I need them. They help unload and stack when I move the wood for the winter.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I have no kids but my dad brought me when I was very young.

 

[deadon]

My sons have helped in the wood since they could walk. Now I can't get them out of the woods. My oldest son got married last week and when we were at the parents table eating his father-in-law told me that is the first time he saw him not wearing camo. I told him take a good look. A suggestion for felling trees when your kids are with you. buy a disposable air horn and give it a blast before making the last felling cut. Tell the kids when they here that sound they MUST look at you eye to eye for instructions. Happy times with the kids always enjoy them now.

 

[Dix]

My daughter has been helping me around the house since she was small. Clean up the toys, lets plant some flowers.

Then when she was 11, she had to help me. It was she and I, so there wasn't a whole lot of discussing about it (it was not, after all, a democracy in those days. She was honestly very good about it, having had prior "help" experience, and she adapted to doing some work in exchange for her horses board quite well It was what had to be done in order for us to continue the things we enjoyed.

After she got home from college 3 years ago, she's right back to helping around the house, putting in windows, doors, etc. She and a friend are the ones cutting down the trees, then it's a joint effort with cutting to rounds, splitting, etc. When she's not on Army Guard weekends, or her 2 week "where ever she goes". And she's right there taking care of the horses, too.

It makes me smile.

Physical labor for financial and emotional satisfaction is a wunnerful thing. It brings out "character".

 

[staplebox]

I started stacking wood when I was about 3 years old. Also had my first hernia operation that spring. Got to swing the ax for real when I was about 8 or 10... I still like that much better than stacking.

My 4 y/o boy has never liked to work so I need to force him to stack for a while, just to make a point. No manual labor in his future I suspect.
My 3 y/o boy loves to help me do anything. He stacks split by split. He's pretty slow but does a good job, I don't need to re-stack his work. I am saving for his hernia operation.
I tell them both all the time that I cannot wait until they are old enough to shovel, rake and mow...maybe next year.
The 10 month old girl is completely useless. She just crawls around and eats leaves. Good thing she has 2 older brothers to carry her load.

 

[mayhem]

My daughter usually goes with me and I found that if I bring some of her crap with us for her to play with she tends to be more interested in helping me out...but if we bring nothing she just whines non stop...sounds like a fire truck.
She also goes with me to plow the driveway, shovel off the deck, pretty much whatever.

 

[FF184]

My 8 and 11 year old boys help me split and carry wood. It definitely helps to have them run the handle on the splitter while I'm wrestling with the rounds. They also help load wood into the backhoe and bobcat buckets. I don't drop too many of my own trees, unfortunately there is more than enough already down and dead on my property (but I'm working on that) but when I do I make sure they stay way back and they get a big kick out of seeing them drop