If I get one of these I’ll name him Andy.
Are these cute screwers meant for use by children or
by grown ups who can’t grasp the intricacies of adult screwdrivers?
Obviously children shouldn’t be running
around the house screwing things, therefore
I have to question the sanity of any adult
who would screw with a cutesy blue narwhal
I’m hoping GAMA GO comes out with a line
of pneumatic power drills shaped like teddy bears
or electric bagel slicers shaped like otters
The narwhal screwdriver IS cute, but to what purpose and for whom?
Why not?
I’d give one to my kid. It’s a screwdriver, not a handgun.
Do you have any idea how many kids are killed by screwdrivers each year? All of them!
Screwdrivers don’t kill kids, Bernie Goetz does…
Obviously we have some seriously open-minded parents in the peanut gallery today.
How does everybody feel about acetylene torches that look like cute pink kitty cats?
Children of 8 or 9 years of age are already re-programming iPads. This product therefore seems to be targeted at 3 to 6 year olds - what kind of parent gives their 6-year old a screwdriver? Why would a 6-year old need a Phillips screwdriver to do anything, except for plunging the screwdriver into another kid’s solar plexus…
Why are you so afraid of letting your kids use tools designed for them? I don’t want my kids growing up not helping out with repairs around the house or afraid of making their own Pinewood Derby car or electronics project. My five year old helps out in the kitchen with a paring knife under supervision.
Getting your kids involved in hobbies they’re interested in is a good thing. Do you have issues with giving them kid-sized cameras? Paintbrushes designed for small hands? Then why fear screwdrivers with a 1" long shaft?
I had a set of brightly painted metal tools that were made for kids when I was around 5 – I think that I even used the green pliers to pull a few loose teeth.
I don’t have children, so I feel I can irrationally condemn or correct the actions of those who have children. Many people who have had children do not realize that one of the benefits of not having children is the right to criticize those who have children, since we carefree “children-less” people are more subject to unwise parents and their spoiled, out of control kids (in shopping malls, at baseball games, in parks, etc) who sometimes annoy and puzzle us.
So, yeah…giving a small child a screwdriver sounds silly and dangerous.
But, then again I have no kids and therefore can hand out irrational advice.
Ah, there it is. You have likely only been exposed to rambunctious kids who are outisde the house or friends are over and are therefore a little keyed up.
Once you get them you can actually rear them to be interesting little people who want to help out and not just wantonly destroy everything with any tools they are handed. It actually gets a little frustrating when you are performing a task you could use help on and they want to help but are slightly too young to help out on.
But you’ve got to stoke the coals of any interest that comes along that is what you would consider a positive development if you want it to pay off down the line when you want them to actually help out building the treehouse or fixing the car or whatever. You just have to provide supervision when they are younger and actually do that parenting thing.
And, for the record, my four year old did help out holding the bottle of the propane torch the last time we made creme brulee. She was really interested and wanted to be a part of making dessert, so she cracked the eggs, weighted the ingredients, turned on the mixer and supervised the ramekin pouring. If this leads to her being interested in cooking, great. If this leads to an interest in chemistry, great. If this leads to nothing more than an awareness of what goes on in a kitchen, great. I’d rather have that than a 20 year old who knows nothing more than canned and frozen goods.
Cute screwdriver, I’d think a six or seven year-old would be about early enough, maybe earlier if the child is ready. But then I was given a carpentry set when I was 7 and I’m delighted to see that they still make and sell them.
I’m starting to wonder if the comment section has turned into a theater piece.
For my own sanity, I’m really hoping that’s the case. Hand-wringing over narwhal screwdrivers. Christ on a pony.
I don’t know how big either of those are, but how are kids supposed to hold them?
Making creme brulee is one of life’s hoops that we all must jump through.
When your kid gets to college, they’ll be ahead of the curve.
Most of my friends who have kids, raise them to be miniature versions of themselves…with all the little quirks and foibles and neuroses that parents love to hand down from generation to generation
For instance, I have a friend who loves baseball, so even though his son has no interest in baseball his father has attempted to brainwash his son into thinking baseball is great…which isn’t working - the son in fact (age 12) seems more interested in cooking and ballet
“Stoking coals” with children is noble and parents can delude themselves into thinking their children will be different and as noble as their very noble parents - but especially in 2013, what’s on the Internet (and even noble Boing Boing) and on TV is more of an outstanding influence than a few minutes spent each day with mom and pop…or just mom…or neither.
DNA does enough damage by making children look and behave “just like mommy and daddy” - to think anyone as a parent is somehow molding a child for a more respectable life is way off base and wishful thinking.
Like my second cousin used to say:
“any person can make a baby, but it takes a hero to make a difference”
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m starting to think your initial reaction was less a genuine objection to child-sized screwdrivers and more an expression of some kind of mommy/daddy issue.
Popular Mechanics put out a mommy/daddy issue in August. It was a good issue.
Nar-wut?
Seriously.
Has the Narwhal sanctioned his/her uimage for publication?
I thought not. You owe me cash, man.
Pay up.
