Jethro's World

Noah wants to know how things are made, and he wants to know every detail.

Every night before he goes to bed, he tells me, "I want to know how they make [fill in the blank]" -- and I am supposed know the entire manufacturing process for whatever item he comes up with -- whether it be curtain rods, door knobs, pillows, clocks, toy cars, or trains. Usually I can come up with a reasonable explanation, but sometimes I just have to an answer that sounds plausible -- hoping that it is somewhat accurate.

I once asked him why he didn't want to know how boxes were made, and he replied, "I already know how boxes are made" -- you see, he loves going out in the shop here at work and intently watching the workers making boxes.

This past fall when we toured Tony's Horse Cookie factory, Noah was very interested in how they were made... and Uncle Tony made his day by giving us a quick demonstration. Noah's favorite machine was the one where the finished wafers traversed a series of hoppers, elevators, and belts; and finally ended up getting dumped into plastic bags.

Since sometime last summer, Noah's favorite book has been "What Do People Do All Day?" by Richard Scarry. For several months, it seemed like we had it on permanent loan from the library -- until Grandma Sandy gave him his very own copy for Christmas. The book does an excellent job of illustrating how a variety of items are made... with Noah's favorites being roads, houses, wood and bread. The book provides a lot of good information for young expanding minds, and it is done in a way that only Richard Scarry could do.

Noah also loves to watch things being made on shows like Mr. Rogers, This Old House (and Ask This Old House) and Unwrapped (Food Network - which we don't get). He also loves to watch cooking shows, with Caprial & John's Kitchen being his favorite.

While the TV shows may require less imagination to visualize how things are made, I think Noah and I both prefer the old fashioned way -- learning from a book. I love our bedtime tradition of discussing how things are made... and I hope he never runs out of questions. Of course, if he starts demanding better answers, I may have to get a laptop and wireless internet so I can just google for the answer from his bed... :-)