Project For Kid Or Parent?

Miss PreTeen brought home a small packet of tiny electronic parts and told me that she had to assemble a light switch with buzzer for her school Kemahiran Hidup project. She had no idea how to do it. I took a look, had no clue where to start (scratch head) and the instructions given were not very clear, so I told her to get dad to fix it (how convenient!).

Hubby came home, took a look and decided to put his skills to the test. He had just about completed it when he discovered that there was a missing part...and it was the teeny-tiny resistor. Dad and daughter searched everywhere...and finally gave up. Miss PreTeen was worried...the teacher told them that they would get a D minus if the switch didn't work! And she didn't dare ask her teacher for another set.

We even got the address and phone number of the company from the internet, but no one answered our calls and the address given was actually a house, not a shop! (yes, we went all the way to the other side of town just to see if we could purchase another set...the things we do for our kids!) Anyway, no one was home.

A few days later I was vacuuming Miss PreTeen's room and I noticed this strange little metal bit on the floor, but before I could pick it up my vacuum hose swallowed it! So I had to open up the dust container, rummage through the dirt and get it. Could this be the missing piece? I actually didn't know what the missing bit looked like, so I waited till Miss PreTeen came home from tuition class.

Yup...it was! Hallelujah!


Dad fitted in the missing piece, turned on the switch...and guess what....

There was sound, but no light! If he reversed it, there was light but no sound....aaargh!!!

I'm beginning to wonder whether this is a project for the parent or for the kid...how could an 11 year-old assemble something that even an adult can't?!