I have to brag about my 8yo grandson.

[chromdome35]

Two of my grandkids (7F,8M) from Ft. Leavenworth are staying with us this week while they are on spring break...At dinner tonight the subject became what year we were born....I said I was born in 1964, and Mason said, "Oh, you were born during the Vietnam War". I was impressed that he knew that, he's only 8, so I asked him what years the war started and ended and he nailed the response...Ok, now I'm really impressed. So I asked him about certain dates such as the start and end of the Civil War, the start and end of WW1, the start and end of WW2, D-Day, Pearl Harbor...the kid nailed almost all of them, and the ones he missed were still pretty close. I can't tell you how proud I was to hear an 8-year-old kid know when any of these events occurred. I doubt most 8-year-olds have ever even heard of Pearl Harbor.

He acquired the knowledge by reading. He loves reading history books and seems to show an interest in military topics. His father is promoting to Major at the start of June and his dad is a history major with a serious love of reading military history. It is rubbing off on Mason.

Then, just when you thought life couldn't get any better, Mason said to me, "PaPa, I enjoyed going to that hobby store (Hobbytown USA) with you last time you were here. Can we go to another one and maybe pick a model to build?" Tomorrow, we are going to have a boys' day out and visit three different shops.

A proud and happy grandpa.

Mason

[fermis]

Mar 13, 2024 23:00:05 GMT -5 chromdome35 said:

Two of my grandkids (7F,8M) from Ft. Leavenworth.....

Proud Papa!!!
 If I could go back, knowing what I know now...I would have known a lot more history!!!

We were stationed at Ft. Lv. from 84-89 (5-8th grade...Eisenhower Elem and Patton JH)...and again 92-93 (Jr-Sr year at Lv HS). Stayed in town until 95...then my wife and I moved back (00-03)
Lots of good memories from Ft. Lv. Our 1st neighborhood has been leveled and rebuilt/expanded (I check it out via Google maps, from time to time). The base lakes were GREAT fishing back then...but were pretty crappy the last time there.
I spent a lot of allowance and babysitting money on models at the shopette there!
Twas a great place to be a kid!

[stikpusher]

You are blessed to have such a family!

[dodgy]

Go Mason! That's pretty awesome chromedome, I'd be feeling pretty proud too! Have a ball shopping the pair of you!!

[Tobi]

And, from what I can see in the photos, you both have the same nose and cheeks, maybe even eyes. The last is a tad guessing.

[TJ]

Always great to hear when the younger generations like history and modelling. I've always said if I could redo my life I'd be a history teacher.

[Golikell]

Well taught! He sounds like a very intelligent and considerate boy. We will see him soon on this forum as new member. ;-)

[adt70hk]

Most excellent! Good to hear he is being brought up well!

[stuart]

That's awesome - well done him - history rules!!!

I was very much like that as a kid, I'd put away most of the books on Military History, especially the Falklands War, that our local Library had by the time I was ten.

Enjoy your model building together.

[lyle]

Heartwarming for sure! You are a lucky man.

[plstcjunky]

That is one of the best stories that I've read in a long time. The Internet is jam-packed with such negative news, thanks for sharing something so wonderful!

[Leon]

That's awesome Brian! To many kids today interested in their phones and video games.

[handiabled]

I feel you on this one Brian! A child that reads actual books nowadays is a rarity. My oldest Grandson got hold of me last week about wanting to look for a guitar. I'm stoked!

[Tojo72]

Great story Brian,and a nice family.

[Tobi]

Mar 14, 2024 8:31:20 GMT -5 handiabled said:

I feel you on this one Brian! A child that reads actual books nowadays is a rarity. My oldest Grandson got hold of me last week about wanting to look for a guitar. I'm stoked!

I think children would love to do other things out of today's scope, they just don't know about them. It's up to the adults to introduce this stuff to them.

[Steve Zuleski]

Outstanding, Brian! That is one fine lad ya got there!

[creading]

There is still hope for the younger generation!! Seriously, your grandson's interest in history, and reading about it, probably reminds many of us of our own childhood. Interest in history, reading about it and ultimately attempting to recreate it in miniature. A tip of the hat to your grandson and your family's continued encouragement for him to read and learn from history.

Cheers,
C.

[406 Silverado]

Sounds like a well grounded kid with some good parents Brian and that.....is definitely worth being proud of.

[Real G]

Give your grandson a pat on the back and an "attaboy" for us!  After all the gloom and doom I have read about kids not even being able to put WW I, WW II, the Korean and Viet Nam wars in proper chronological order, much less identify major nations (Wakanda is NOT a real country!!!), it is a breath of fresh air to hear of a kid who knows of something other than Tik Tok or the latest pop singer fad.  For those who dismiss the knowledge of history as irrelevant, I say it helps keep the stupid away.   8 years old?  My goodness, I was still playing around with my Godzilla toys and watching cartoons and Japanese superhero TV shows at that age!  Although I knew when the Viet Nam War was, because I grew up during the conflict.

Bragging?  No Chromdome, it's a feel-good story.  A ray of sunshine amid a world filled with horrifying news.

[keavdog]

Brag away! What a great story and quite the smart little guy. I imagine if you get him building with historical context he'll dive right in. Model family (pun intended)

[chromdome35]

Thank you for the great comments; I appreciate and agree with all of them.

So we went to Tulsa today where, as luck would have it, there are three decent model shops (Top Shelf Models in Owasso Ok is a traditional LHS, The Hussar is an EXCELLENT little shop focused on miniatures and literature, and Hobby Town USA which has a nice paint selection and a HUGE (100's of kits) Gundam section.

At Top Shelf Mason picked out a Tamiya Kettenkraftrad and at Hobbytown he picked out a "30 minute" Gundam.


When we got home, we started having movie night (Eddie Murphy's Dr. Doolittle) but we didn't get too far in until Mason said, "Can I build one of my models with PaPa instead?)...Be still my heart...So we started on the Gundam since it was the simplest of the two he chose.

This is the first kit he's ever built, so I taught him how to properly use the nippers and clean up the parts. He learned how to read the instructions and take the parts off the sprue. He struggled a bit with getting pieces in the proper orientation for assembly, but after I showed him how he could lay the parts down on the instructions to get everything in the proper position, he got to work.



There are no words in English to describe how happy I am tonight.

[keavdog]

Makes me smile!
Maybe Klingon??? SoHmo' jIQubtaHvIS, jIHvaD nuq jIH

[kyledehart5]

That’s too cool!! The history interest and the model making!! You have a right to be proud!

[Leon]

That's a great grandson you have Brian! Make sure you you post pics of his finished builds.

[dean48ws]

This is very cool!

[handiabled]

Enjoy Brian!!! Moments like that are priceless! You will have to keep us posted on his progress.

[deafpanzer]

I love reading threads like this! Thanks for sharing.

[dukemaddog]

Wow this is some amazing story here! Way to go Mason! I'm thrilled to see someone still interested in building models at this age!

[Medicman71]

That's awesome!