Race Time & Moral Victories

I have two cub scouts and one honorary cub scout that think she is a real cub scout ... so I guess that means I really have three.

Last night was pinewood derby.

For those of you who have brothers, or who were cub scouts at one point, you know what that means. You know how this was "THE NIGHT" every cub scout looks forward to for months. You know the work and planning that goes into preparing a car. When I was a girl, I remember my brothers working with Dad on their cars, balancing, weighing, sawing, painting. It always looked like so much fun. I wanted to do one. Or, I at least wanted to help.

I have 5 brothers. Whenever I got to help, they always gave me the job of sanding the wheels. I had to use a fine grit paper to sand down the seam and the "belly button" left on the wheel from the plastic mold. Every year, I'd get the same lecture, "Now make sure you don't sand a flat spot on the wheel. That will really slow it down." I didn't think that part was very fun.

But last year, I finally had my chance. I had three cub scouts that needed cars. It was a disaster. We were late. Paint jobs lacked the sleekness I remembered from my brothers' days. Wheels fell off during the race. They were sadly underweight cars. But, when it was all over, I had wonderful memories. And literally, in the car on the way home, all three were scheming for next year, so I guess that means they had fun, too.

Next year came. It was last night. This time, I only had to do one car. I guess we did the "divide and conquer" method. Big J wanted to design his car and have it go fast. (Apparently, he forgot that last year, the wheels were falling off mid-race...) But he decided that designing his car was important, so I got the assignment.

Apparently, pinewood derbies have evolved. Making a car go fast is more than just sanding down the belly button on the wheels. Now you have to properly place the weight, and shift wheel bases, hone the axles (those little nails.) I was overwhelmed ... and I'll admit, this race got personal.

I was a mom on a mission. I was not going to fail my boy this year. And I wasn't going to fail myself either.

There were wonderful people that helped. A coach from California that sent me a 100+ pg booklet on how to have the perfect pinewood derby car. He told me to "keep it simple." The eBay seller that sold me tungsten weights and drove them to the post office in an ice storm so I would have them. A wonderful cubmaster that helped cut and sand and buff and weigh. A dear neighbor that encouraged me and let me use his drill.

We made it to the race on time. Ok, the paint job might have been a little bubbled, but it was shiny, and had a bright red racing stripe down the center. (Someday, if I figure out how to post pictures, I'll add one here.) I breathed a sigh of relief when Big J's car made it all the way down the track, wheels on and completely intact. And, he even won that heat.

In the end, Big J took second place overall. It was a moral victory -- you can style your car AND have it be fast, too (not to mention the fact that Mom can be in charge of a car that is capable of winning.) My other two cubs took 3rd and 4th place respectively.

(And because Big J's car was faster than the other two, I guess I can gloat for a moment, too.)

In the car, on the way home, they were chattering about their cars for next year. So once again, I guess you can call it a success. We celebrated at Purple Turtle over milk shakes and tater tots.

I'm the luckiest mom alive.