The Tire Change

Recently, my husband has been restoring every part on his car.  I'm not exaggerating.  My husband is on a mission to clean, revamp, or replace all removable portions of the car.  Over the last couple of months, he has taken the entire car apart until only a shell remained.  Of course, the boys are thrilled with the prospect of putting the car back together.  However, the boys are only allowed into the garage when my husband is working on an easy task.

One day, my husband was finishing up his work on the transmission and the drive axles.  He was just about to place one of the tires onto the wheel bolts when Son #1 peeked around the garage door.  "Dad, can I help?"  He asked shyly.

My husband grunted.  "Sure.  Sure.  Come on in."  Son #1 bounced into the garage hopping over tools and car parts.  My husband was immediately alarmed by all the commotion and sharply instructed our son.  "Hey!  Stay still.  Don't touch anything."

Son #1 froze and then gazed at his dad.  "What do you want me to do?"

My husband sat on a chair for a second and removed the gloves from his hands.  "Well, you could help me put on a tire."

"Oh yeah!"  Son #1 cried.  "That sounds awesome!"  Then, he reached out to grab a few stray tools on the floor.

"Whoa!  Hold on a second.  There is a process that you have to follow."  My husband said.  "Let's get the wrench from the shelf behind me and then we'll get started."  Son #1 followed his dad dutifully and picked up the wrench.  Slowly, they walked over to a tire.  "Now, I need you to help me lift the tire onto the bolts."

"Huh?"  Son #1 scratched his head and made a silly face.  "You want me to lift the tire?"

"Yes."  My husband replied while ignoring our son's crossed eyes.  "Alright.  Grab that side and we'll lift the tire.  One.  Two.  Three.  Up!"  They carefully placed the tires onto the bolts.  "Go get the lug nuts."  My husband commanded.  Son #1 scrambled to the lug nuts and brought back the correct amount.  "Good job.  Now, we need to put these nuts on the bolts and tighten them with the wrench." 

Son #1 watched intently as my husband placed the nuts onto all the bolts.  He began to tighten the nuts that sat at opposite ends of each other in equal increments.  Quietly, Son #1 tapped my husband on the shoulder.  "Dad, can I try?" 

"Sure."  My husband replied.  Patiently, my husband helped Son #1 hold the wrench properly and tighten the nuts appropriately.  Son #1 smiled at his dad feeling very accomplished. 

Slowly, they worked together until all the tires were back on the car.  Then, my eldest son burst into the house shouting.  "Mom!  Mom!  I helped Dad put the tires on the car!"

"Wow!  That's so cool!"  I replied with a smile.

"Next time, I'm going to help dad with something else!"  Son #1 yelled with excitement.

"When I get to something easy, I'll let you help again."  My husband said encouragingly.

"Sweet!!!!"  Son #1 screamed as he ran to his room to play with his cars.  From his room, we could hear him pretending to fix his own cars before an exciting new race.  My husband and I grinned at each other as we listened to him play.  Son #1 was completely intrigued with cars both big and small.