We went out shopping on Friday and bought Charles some new wood for this work area. Charles had objected to the expedition from the start, and worst of all Mom made him go to Sam’s Club which for reasons that he couldn’t express through his blubbering is the most evil place to visit.
Anyway, he was happy for a little bit when we got him the wood, until we went to another store. I pointed out the negative reenforcement aspect of this behavior but Charles was not up for any sort of global optimization strategy.
Eventually Charles was released in to the domestic again from the wild and he started on a new wood project — a shield for Timmy. This made his very frustrated, I suspect because he tried to build it entirely of wood and then use it on one of Timmy’s fins. It turns out that he durability of an all wood construct made by a 7 year old is not as much as a Charles might hope. Mom suggested that Charles ask Dad for help, but Charles preferred to remain a melting puddle of boyish misery. For a while. After a couple of hours, he requested aid and I became engaged in the project. We ended up using some kevlar cord for the handle, because I had some around (it’s useful for making shock cords for rockets).