Bennett Builds a Birdhouse

"Poppy, can we build it now? he asked for the third time.
"No but we'll build it tomorrow and you can help me, OK?"
"Ohh Kaaay" he said with some regret in his voice.
"I promise, we will build it tomorrow little buddy"
"Ohh Kaaay"
 Cheryl had found the bird house kit at Ollie's and thought it would be a good project for me and the little guy to work on when he came for a week long stay. I had been putting it off  because of the weather. It was February and the days had been cool and sometimes rainy. But I knew that tomorrow was supposed to be a little warmer and no rain.
We had already been to the bird feeders in the back yard, and he had helped fill up each feeder with the scoop while I held open the lid and lifted him up where he could reach it. It was as much as I could handle but the smile on his face made it all worthwhile. At four, I was surprised that he had so much interest, and that he demonstrated so much patience. My experience with four year olds usually doesn't involve the word patience. (Except on my part, of course).
 He had just under five million questions about the birds, most starting with the word "Why". After multiple diversions to those inquiries that I couldn't answer and hearing him say "But why?" to my answers, I developed the technique of treating him like he was an eight year old boy. I gave him detailed information that I did know and it seemed to satisfy him. I showed him the different kinds of birds as they landed on the feeders, I explained that the boy birds were more colorful than the girl birds, I asked him to listen to their songs and I identified the ones who were singing. We sat on the deck bench and he displayed an amazing amount of patience as we observed the birds. I explained that we needed to talk very softly or whisper so we wouldn't disturb our feathered friends. 
 He especially liked a fat little Carolina Wren who comes morning and afternoon to serenade us on the top rail of the deck. The little wren seems to get up on his tiptoes (claws) and reaches way down inside of himself to blast out his song over and over again. Bennett watched in awe as the little bird chortled his winsome tune.
 By mid-morning on the following day I decided that the weather would cooperate and I told the little guy that, "Today is the day". He was excited and followed me around as I made the preparations to assemble the kit. After discovering that it was assembled with screws instead of nails, I put my very small cordless screwdriver on the charger. I broke open the packaging and Bennett asked what everything was for. I showed him the screws, the pre-cut boards and the pre-drilled holes where the screws would go. He was animated and excited to finally get started. While the drill was charging, we started some of the construction using a hand screwdriver. He couldn't work it very well, so I had him hold the screws while I applied the pressure and got them started. After a few minutes he was getting restless and clearly had his mind on other things.
 "Can we paint it now , Poppy?"
 "No Buddy, we have to finish getting all the boards on and then you can paint."
 "Ohhh Kaaay"
 About this time, I checked the cordless drill and it had sufficient power to do the job. I pulled Bennett up in the chair beside me and showed him how to hold the drill and run the screws in. Together we finished assembling the sides of the structure. He was beaming from ear to ear.

 We then put the roof boards on one at a time. He was a little bored, but he really enjoyed using the cordless screwdriver. After a few minutes we had the roof complete and it was time to paint.

 The front of the birdhouse had leaves scribed on it to guide your painting, so I let him pick the colors and try to keep it in the lines. The brush was tiny and his hand not too steady, so I let him paint the middle and I finished off the ends. They didn't furnish enough paint in any single color so I suggested that we paint each roof board a different color. He liked that idea and started slathering paint on the first board. After completing one side he became distracted again, so we had a short break back into the house. I was amazed that I had kept his attention as long as I did. On returning, he let me complete most of the rest so we could get the project finished. And finally we did.



 We spent another half hour sitting on the bench and watching birds on the feeder. He asked a couple million more questions and I answered a couple of them. He told me not to talk too loud so we wouldn't disturb the birds on the feeder. A deep soul-satisfying feeling warmed my heart strings as he intently watched our little feathered friends. When he saw one that he liked, he would say "Look Poppy!" and point to it. I'm not sure who learned the most from our little "bonding" exercise, but I walked away with a wonderful closeness to a sweet little grandson. All in all, it was a great day for a granddad and grandson. A very special day for Poppy, for sure.

As usual, Cheryl was right.

Footnote: It has been about a month since they stayed with us but we talked with his Mom a couple of days ago. When she was loading her two boys up to take them to daycare, Bennett stood on the front porch while Mom strapped his little brother into the car. As she approached the porch to take him to the car, he raised his hand and put his finger to his lips as he whispered,

 "We have to be quiet!"  

She asked "Why do we have to be quiet?" 

 He said "We have to listen to the birds".  

She asked "Did Poppy tell you that?"  

He smiled sweetly, nodded his head and said

"Yes".

Another special day for Poppy.