"The gloves will help me keep my hands warm. And clean!"

May 9, 2017 9:33 PM

Little "How-To" Girl: a three-year year girl shows you how to fix a leaky faucet; change a lock; change a car's ignition coils; cut a man's hair; vacuum your living room; make a bedtime snack and fix a headlight; replace a lawnmower battery; do an oil change.
posted by Room 641-A (20 comments total)

These are great. So easy even a three year old can do it! Turns out that you lose these skills as you get older apparently.

Love the bedtime snack/Headlight one.
posted by AugustWest at 10:13 PM on May 9, 2017

I was about her age when I became proficient with a screwdriver from watching my dad in his workshop. He used to fix tv's and hi-fi stuff back in the 80s. He even built my first computer from a kit.

I wanted to be be just like him so I took apart our VCR. He was so mad he said he'd unscrew my belly button so my bum would fall off. Then he poked his finger into my belly and started waggling it around. I was so super ticklish I was helpless with laughter, clutching my butt with both hands in terror at the same time. Finally he stopped and said he wouldn't unscrew my bum this time, unless I play with the screwdriver without him.

Since I was good, later on he he gave me a dead IBM Selectric to take apart. It was so much fun.
posted by adept256 at 11:31 PM on May 9, 2017 [48 favorites]

I forced my 12-year-old to swap tyres on the family van the other day (winter has left Norway for now) as an educational exercise. She was moaning and complaining all through the first tyre, but the rest of them went quite smoothly. The best part was that when she was complaining the loudest about child labour, the head of the local CPS drove by, waving and smiling (our sons are in the same class). "See, even the CPS approves", I told her, "so you have nowhere to turn to." I think that was when she just resigned and decided to just get the job done was the easiest path.
posted by Harald74 at 11:43 PM on May 9, 2017 [36 favorites]

he said he'd unscrew my belly button so my bum would fall off

A+ dad material there, totally stealing this.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:06 AM on May 10, 2017 [22 favorites]

Reaction 1: Hey, cool, a kid who gets to feel engaged and empowered with household chores and tasks!

Reaction 2: Oh, a "purity revolution" sign in the background. This poor, poor child.
posted by uncleozzy at 3:13 AM on May 10, 2017 [12 favorites]

Charming. I had no idea "Kumbaya" had verses about oil changing. I don't believe she actually removed or installed the drain plug or filter, though.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:59 AM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

(Faucet repair video) "We need to replace this. Go to Home Depot and get an exact match."

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. THAT NEVER HAPPENS.
posted by panglos at 5:28 AM on May 10, 2017 [8 favorites]

"See, even the CPS approves", I told her, "so you have nowhere to turn to."

Wonderful, this.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:24 AM on May 10, 2017

I don't believe she actually removed or installed the drain plug or filter, though.

Movie magic, man. Movie magic.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:27 AM on May 10, 2017

Little "How-To" Girl:

I'm worried, because these things always ramp up over time. By Season 2 she'll be doing neurosurgery and launching folks in to near earth orbit.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:28 AM on May 10, 2017 [4 favorites]

launching folks in to near earth orbit.

No Kerbals were harmed in the filming of this instructional how-to.
posted by k5.user at 6:42 AM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

Personally I like how, before you can replace the faucet handle, you have to take off your socks. This is why so many faucet repairs fail, people. It's all in the details.
posted by telepanda at 7:07 AM on May 10, 2017 [11 favorites]

This is exactly how it works for me, too. Inside every household fix-it-yourselfer is a three-year-old wondering if this would work better if I took off my socks. Bottom line, Yoda was wrong. There is no Do, there is only Try.
posted by Flexagon at 8:46 AM on May 10, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm worried, because these things always ramp up over time. By Season 2 she'll be doing neurosurgery and launching folks in to near earth orbit

Is her dad Forrest MacNeil?
posted by rhizome at 8:55 AM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

(Faucet repair video) "We need to replace this. Go to Home Depot and get an exact match."

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. THAT NEVER HAPPENS.

No, it does, it's just that she left out "on your fifth trip."
posted by mudpuppie at 12:00 PM on May 10, 2017 [3 favorites]

My grandfather always told me unscrewing the belly button would make one's arms and legs fall off, not the bum, but maybe he had his information wrong?
posted by mbatch at 7:14 PM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

Depends on the model year.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:44 AM on May 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

I've never heard the bellybutton story before, and this is why I'm sad that the "lies parents tell their children" post was deleted.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:24 AM on May 11, 2017

My dad used to threaten to take out my belly button and put in a zipper. Said it would hurt like heck, but would give us easy access to our guts!
posted by AugustWest at 8:04 AM on May 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

LOL this is just great!
posted by Mormor at 5:04 AM on May 18, 2017