Dad's And DIY dont mix

[cuppycake]

My dad always wants to fix things around the house but he really is bad at it. Do anyone have any tips on how i cant stop him killing my house?

[Paul]

Use a straitjacket.

By the way, there is no need for the apostrophe in the title.

[buffalobill]

[Pat]

Give him a roll of duct tape and tell him to go into the corner and play ....

Seriously, give the guy something to do. Why not see if there's a Habitat for Humanity chapter in your town and sign him up. It'll give him something to do, they might teach him a thing or two, and you can go with him and "bond". Then he's tired and has had his fill of tinkering. It's a win-win.

It there's not Habitat, maybe a Youth Center or Senior Center needs a handiman.

[spamTHISbrp]

Kiwanis is always building stuff.

beats the damn Lions, anyway...

Dave

[Ether Jones]

Yes, there is. She just put it in the wrong word.

[bremen68]

Find the easiest projects you've got and turn him loose on those... Short of just telling him straight out it's your best bet IMHO.

Good luck... :-)

[Stormin Mormon]

The apostrophe makes the word posessive. What belongs to your Dad? Are you talking about your Dad's tools? Your Dad's car?

However, the word "don't" is a contraction of "do not" which does, however, require an apostrophe. Isn't (contraction of is not) that interesting?

If the house is owned by you, then you need to use the two letter N-word.

[Paul]

Ha! Good catch.

[Heybub]

Which proves the adage that for every missing apostrophe, an extra one exists somewhere. - and vice versa. It all averages out.

[Bill]

As I always say, everybody is good at doing something.

Some people are quite good at playing musical instruments (I couldn't play one if my life depended on it), some people are good at math, some people are "mechanical" and are quite good at fixing things.

In my case, I am quite good at fixing things, but my dad is not. However my dad is quite good at writing. My brother can't use a screwdriver, but he is good at sports.

Then those who are good at destroying things and those who are builders/fixers. Everybody is different.

As I grew up, my dad came to rely on me to fix things around the house. He is quite old now and I visit him once a year at Christmas. He usually has a small list of things for me to fix when I get there. Simple things like replacing a pull string on a light fixture or ceiling fan. He just can't do these things!

[glenn P]

Have you tried talking to him instead of whining to a group of strangers in a group that isn't interested in your petty problems?

[pj]

Funny ... I've always found "cat lovers" to be less mean!

[Newsreader]

Ask him to take up whitteling? With a real sharp knife.

Just kidding.

Be glad you still have a Dad. I wish I did, even though he sometimes used to get on my nerves doing things I'd rather do myself

[Tom The Great]

World Of Warcraft. You won't see him for days, months, years. :p

Seriously, do you have any photos of projects 'completed'?

later,

tom @

[Edwin Pawlowski]

' ' ' ' ' ' ' So there, now the world is out of balance.

[glenn P]

You should see my cat....

[Steve B]

Move out to your own house while you still know it all. How old are you?

Apparently not old enough to know that "I" (first person pronoun) is always capitalized.

Steve

[<aemeijers]

One of the few good answers in this thread, along with the ones about doing some volunteer work together and maybe learning some stuff. To Daddy, you will always be his kid, in need of being cared for. He needs to be needed. In 20 years or so, you will likely be missing the hell out of him, and the botched DIY projects will seem meaningless.

Buy him some DIY self-instruction books, maybe some decent tools (non-powered), and make up simple idiot-proof projects for him. Sign up, together, for some of the classes at the local home center or vocational school, and both of you can actually learn how to do some simple stuff properly. Go over to his place, and help him with some of the chores over there. If he is anything like most Dads I know, he mainly wants to spend time with you. Hell, I grew up in the business, and I still call my old man with household repair and design questions that I usually already know the answer to, since that is one of the few topics he feels comfortable talking for more than five minutes about. And he still suprises me sometimes with a different idea that is better than what I had come up with.

aem sends....

[Stormin Mormon]

I havnt been able to find the ones Ive been missing. Its been years since the hens teeth Id had were found. Since I cant find them, its rough to type, and Im not sure I can do this much longer. Im going through apostrophes syndrome. Withdrawl is makin me crazy.

Hey, brother, can you loan me an apostrophe?