[Jewelry making - Article 00021] - Re: [Orchid] Metalsmithing Mamas

[Stephen Walker]

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    I have spent quite a few hours at the bench with infants and
    toddlers near by. Six kids of my own, a nephew that lived with me
    intil he was 2 and an employee's child that thought her place was
    sitting on my lap. The main thing I have learned is that they are
    all different. Some kids are nearly impossible to care for in the
    shop and others are great. I love it when I can work with a baby in
    the room, but you had better have a back-up plan. A baby sitter or
    daycare can be expensive, but even when money was very tight I could
    not afford not to pay it. Otherwise nothing would get done and my
    income would disappear. 

    From age 6 months to 2 years, I liked to use a backpack, especially
    when I am soldering. That way I know they can't get in any trouble
    while I am focused on the work and it becomes a sort of ritual that
    the kid enjoys. But it does not work with all kids. Some want to
    thrash around and make it impossible to do anything that needs a
    steady hand. 

    My wife has worked with me full time since our 5th baby. We also
    have had some other employees since then. Dealing with a child while
    you work is a whole lot easier when there is another big person in
    the room. It is also a lot easier after a few years of practice. The
    earlier kids cost a lot more in terms of lost productivity since I
    spent more time alone with them and was less experienced with the
    balancing act. 

    My experience has been that after age 2 it gets a lot harder to deal
    with a child in the studio, until about age 7 when you can actually
    let them start playing with the materials. Even more so for taking a
    child to shows. My employee with the little girl had to quit about
    the time the child turned 2. She would not consider daycare, the
    father could not adjust his schedule and the kid just became too
    much of a handfull to keep bringing to work. 

    I have never had to deal with being the only one for a child 24 / 7.
    I don't think I could do that and work more than part time. It is
    best for the child anyway if several people share the care for it. 

    Stephen Walker 

    PS: Maybe a thread on child labor would be an interesting follow up.
    Not child labor = bad, but how do you train and motivate the brats.
    My younger kids beg to help in the studio, but they either can't do
    what they want to do or won't do what they are capable of doing. By
    the time they are old enough to be really useful, they don't have
    the time between school, friends, sports and video games. All you
    ever hear about child labor is how wrong it is to staff sweat shops
    with kids. I think if you can teach a kid skilled work at a young
    age, that is fantastic. How do you do it?
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