That's a helluva' story Pipewrench, and I know the two-step radiator caps well. I haven't had to open one in many years, though. But a homemade cap? That would seem to put some responsibility on the customer to warn you, too.
But I won't disagree in the hazards of too much unsupervised responsibility for a given kid. Which is why I spoke generally, and predicated that the responsibility has to be both wanted by the child and in the child's ability. But still, I'm all for giving them as much as they can safely handle.
Straight-up though, I did a ton of stuff when younger that might not fly as well today. It was a different era, and my parents were working-class immigrant stock, living in a very modest working-class immigrant neighborhood. Everyone around us worked like dogs to get ahead, entire families, and the kids were expected to hustle and contribute from a young age. And if their parents had a small family business, even if was just selling stuff out their back door, or making something in their basement or garage, the kids were often helping out from the very earliest ages! This is how my family was, with our shop. We we're helping my mom by the second & third grade! The customers loved us, and it was very rewarding.
I think I can say that not much of growing up like this has cost me negatively, and a great deal has benefited me very well. But I must say this, too: While work was highly prized, for their kids my parents prioritized our educations as first above everything. They wanted us to work, but they firstly insisted we do well in school, and stay in school. They worked very hard for us, so they expected us to work very hard too - just at everything! :mrgreen:
(And I've passed down that same work ethos to my kids)
BTW - The priest part was great. I'm Catholic, and grew-up with some very tough & practical priests.