Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire My Boy is getting now!

After one fiasco after another with my oldest boy he is starting to get out of that teen braindead stage. He hasn't even been in one fight this year. His grades are improving and he is taking welding. I really didn't want him to be like me and have a blue collar job. I wanted him to study and have a job making a better living than I do. He is just like me though, I wasn't great at book work but could do anything with my hands.

Last year was his first year welding and he went to competition at the state fair and was runner up for the whole shebang. 2nd in the state! I'm still trying to encourage him to take cad and geometry and so he will be more rounded in his field, not to just be a mule but could run the show. Two more years of school and he's done. I can't believe he is that old now, it seems like yesterday he was following me around in the woods with his bb gun shooting pine cones. I am very proud of him, he is starting to resemble a man.

Congratulations! Parenthood is not an easy task. When they turn that corner it gives you a great feeling.

Congrats, it certainly is rewarding and a relief when they turn that corner.

Make sure you let him know how proud you are, he needs to hear it as all he has heard for a long time is how he has done wrong.

Some boys are tough to raise especially when they are just like you, they know just the right buttons to push. I had a real tough one and I wasn't sure if he was gonna make it to 18, well he did and he is now 24. I couldn't be more proud of him, he is a great family man and has given me 3 beautiful grand kids and to his mother's and my enjoyment his youngest girl is just like him. my boy will tell us something about her and the wife and I will look at each other and grin ear to ear.


"May you have children just like you" A mother's curse does work.

Hey dumbass...there are half as many welders in this country as there was 30 years ago. A good one writes his own ticket.

Congratulations!

I know a guy who welds under a U.S. gov contract and makes a great living. Welding has it's niche especially now that for many years people undercut the trade schools they are back in demand.

Being able to be a craftsman/artisan is a lot better than being a guy wearing a tie to work every day and barely getting by. When the S does HTF he'll survive when a lot of the "professionals" will be up S creek. Sounds like you have every reason to be proud of him. I would encourage him in his chosen pursuits so long as they are legal and ethical. That's much better than him living with a father that is forever saying "You could have been such and such if you'd only tried."

My best friend is a "welder"...well kinda. He started working as a welder at 19 and now he is the General Superintendent of one of the Country's largest construction/maintenance companies.

MAG,, I have told him how proud of him I am. I always have praised him for good things but believe me he got it when he done the wrong thing. He even got praised for a few thing from me when his mother was very upset about it. How do you get on to a kid that punched a dude square in the face for terrorizing a retarded kid? He got in a $hit load of trouble at school but I told him no good deed goes unpunished and that doing the right thing often bites you in the azz.

Itp,, thanks, I think. ; )

O, I do encourage him to weld cause it makes him happy and he loves it, I just want himto be more valuble to a company and if he I a awesome welder AND can do cad and understands geometry, fabrication and engengineering will come easier to him. He has a knack for tinkering so in the long run it will benefit him even though he doesn't really see it now. I wish someone would have given me a little nudge.

Kinda what I was thinking..


My parents always told me I didn't want to end up being a ditch digger.

They didn't tell me ditch diggers make $38 per hour!

Good for you and good for your boy for for stickin' up for retarded kid. I always told both my kids "if someone starts a fight with you you Damn well finish it but don't you dare ever start a fight". My boy was suspended three times in high school for defending himself but never got in trouble at home for it.

Encourage him to learn to weld underwater.. earn ten times the salary..

Congratulations to your son and you!
If I could offer a word of encouragement and advice (for what it's worth) lead him towards machine work, but learn to do it the old-fashioned way, not just CNC stuff.
My SIL was trained as a SEABEE to weld, run machine tools and carpentry.

He got into the CNC end of things when he got out, but when his employer found out he could do stuff "old school", he got a raise and was put in charge of doing one-off specialty stuff, so he isn't bored and has built quite the reputation as being a "go-to guy" at their facility.

Skilled labor will always be able to feed, clothe, and house themselves. College graduates, not so much.

Ed

Congrats on your son's pursuit into his chosen career field.

An alternative to cad and geometry that's a hands on niche related to welding is non-destructive testing. It's not as dirty as welding and it might be worth looking into. Of course it's up to your boy to decide.

Congrats to your son. Sounds like he is doing great. Lots of good money in welding right now just takes some traveling sometimes.

Since the 1980'a I have promoted the trades. My grandson will be starting an OTJ training as a machinist. The first 2 years, IIRC, are with the older machines. BTW, he works for Ruger.

"Son, I am very proud of you!".....you can't say it too often.....

Thanks fish and Ed also, I will look into both and see what he thinks.

Would not worry in the least if I had a son that wanted to be a welder, for several reasons- It's an honest way to earn a living, it's a craft/trade that is easy to turn into a business, many facets of it have to be done on site so there is less danger of the job being shipped overseas, and it's a trade that one can be proud of because it requires both book smarts and common sense.