Kachra (Garbage) Will Happen When Trying: What a Cardboard Fingerboard Taught My Kids About Not Giving Up
A skateboard for your fingers This morning my kids, Gannu and Tuppa, decided to build fingerboards. If you haven’t met one, a fingerboard is a tiny skateboard you ride with two fingers instead of two feet. There was no kit and no shop trip. The plan was cardboard, paper, a bit of plastic, a bottle of glue, and a pair of tyres rescued from broken toy cars. Our living room floor quickly turned into a workshop. I’ll be honest. I didn’t know how to make one. When I asked, Gannu looked at me and said, “This is your first time.” He was right. When nothing sticks By the time I joined in, things had already gone wrong. Someone had nicked a thumb with the cutter. One board had broken. And the two of them were arguing about how it should be done. Gannu had a clear picture: three or four layers for thickness, and a top that curves up at the ends. Tuppa had his own idea of the shape. Neither wanted to budge, and the voices got louder. Tuppa had the hardest time. He tried to stick his pieces together, but they simply wouldn’t hold. Tape everywhere, glue everywhere, and still the layers kept coming apart. So he got angry, then he cried, and then he gave up. I think every parent knows that moment. The project isn’t really about cardboard anymore. It’s about a small person who feels like the thing in front of him is impossible. Trying again, together The first thing I did was ask everyone to stop shouting and talk one at a time. Then I said something I wanted them to hear: there can be more than one right design. Gannu’s idea wasn’t wrong. Tuppa’s idea wasn’t wrong. They were just different. I also
