Gearhead Parenting: someone should write a book about this.
Recently, we found this great story on the internet about a teenager named Reece, who wanted a Foxbody Mustang, so his father, who feared he might lose interest in the project, made him a deal.
“Tear down my Cobra engine, build the new one, and we’ll talk about a Fox.”
At just 14 he built the engine for his dad’s 2003 Mustang Cobra. This story of gearhead parenting is obviously not the whole detailed version, which you can read HERE.
In his father’s words:
“Reece held up his end of the bargain, so I had to hold up mine,”
This now 16 year old gearhead is the proud owner of a 1990 Foxbody Mustang.
But, we want to talk about something beyond project cars, Gearhead Parenting.
In this day and age, parenting has become increasingly difficult, and since the generational gap will only get larger with each passing decade, it’s crucial for parents to have a bridge between their generation and the one they are raising, a place or way of mutual understanding.
How are we going to teach someone whom we don’t understand?
How are the younger generations going to understand us?
We believe cars can be that bridge, as illustrated by the story above, a project car can teach many things. The value of hard work and perseverance is possibly the greatest lesson a car can teach; planning, organization skills, decision making, even critical thinking skills.
Are you starting to see a pattern?
All of those lessons are something no school will teach fully, to be prepared for life, parents have to go beyond the school curriculum, and we believe that there is no better way of doing it than with gearhead parenting in the form of a project car.
People nowadays say the new generations are unfocused and have no aspirations, but, as geaheads we know one thing we’re always thinking about: Cars, engines, trucks, you name it.
Whether we are driving, tinkering, or learning something new, gearheads are always focused, setting practical goals, and achieving results. That’s the ethos behind gearhead parenting.
And when we doubt our self worth, we look at our cars, all of our thoughts and hard work, all of the time we put into them, and that reminds us of what we can do.
Cashing a faster lap time, getting a quicker quarter mile time slip, or just having a sweet cruiser to take for a drive now and then, these are all things that have thrilled us since we were young, so why not share it with our children?