Pinewood Derby, or It's Not Funny Anymore!

Me, the only adult in a scout shirt, obviously trying to NOT scream at some of the people.

My group of scouts, obviously having more fun than me. Thank goodness!

WARNING: This post is mostly me venting. Feel free to scroll down to the pictures and ignore my rantings.

Well, I've had a couple days to recover, so maybe I can talk about it without shuddering. This Saturday, in addition to being Eric's birthday, was our pack's Pinewood Derby. I am only the bear leader, but our cub master has a lot going on so I offered to help out with awards and games for the kids.

In past years the Derby has been a VERY long, drawn out process, so I decided to make it a little more fun than just sitting around watching one race every 5 minutes (no joke). I made the certificates, bought little medals the winners could wear on their uniforms, made 4 games ALL the kids could do while the waited (it being a given that it wouldn't start on time) and got candy for prizes for the games. None of this was expensive, and since I did it on my own I ate the cost of it, but I really wanted it to be more fun for the kids.

At the weigh-in I was a little chagrined when I looked at the other cars and my kids' stuck out like a sore thumb. One of the older brothers of a cub even said some not very nice things about Ella and Livi's. Fearing for their, especially Ella's, sensitive little natures I let the boys know that rude comments would not be tolerated, which was followed by the dad of a different scout saying something along the line of "what happened here" pointing at the girls' cars. I was about in tears knowing the hard work they put in, and that if I had just stepped in and done it for them they wouldn't be facing the rude comments. Not to mention they are Church members and I just kind of expect better.

The next day was the Derby and I got all my stuff together and we headed over. The cubs were really cute and all the younger siblings were adorable, looking for the road signs I hid around the room, unscrambling words, taking a "drivers test, " etc. The older siblings were another matter. They saw my candy bowl and thought it was a free for all. One of the cub master's older boys stuffed his pockets with candy and when I told him to put it back he laughed and left the room. The older boys kept coming over and stealing the candy by the handful and I ended up having to either carry it with me or putting my purse on top of it, on the stage, behind the curtain, or they would have eaten it all. It's not like there wasn't a treat planned, the candy was just an extra. I ended up having to yell at 3 of the boys because even after I told them repeatedly they couldn't have more candy they were climbing on the stage trying to move my purse.

Speaking of yelling, there was so much yelling by a certain man at his wife and kids that it gave me the beginnings of a migraine. He was putting information in to the computer about who won each race, and anytime ANY kid got too close or tried to talk to him he chewed them out. What a great example that was to his own kids, let alone the other 20 kids that were there.

Last vent. Looking at the rules it is very clear that the cars entered into the race are suppose to be made "in the year that the derby is held" meaning that you are not suppose to reuse cars. Well, one family did just that and boasted about it. As Melissa pointed out, they aren't going to use the slow cars from previous years, so they go in knowing they have fast cars. And guess what? Their boy won!!! I'm not mean enough to call them on it, but the Type A, rule follower in me had a fit

Ok, onto the important part. My kids each made a car. When I say they made it I mean they made it. The drew out the design, Eric cut it with a jigsaw, and then the kids made decorations and painted them. It was hard to watch, knowing they wouldn't look as professional, or be as fast, as the kids who had more... parental involvement, but I really wanted them to have the pride that comes with making something themselves. Kind of the same reason we have lots of homemade pictures on the walls and kid made Christmas tree decorations. I'm not sure if this is a good thing as a parent, if it would be better to step in more, but this is the way I like it so my kids can get mad at me for it when they grow up.

Here are their cars: Ethan's, with a motor he sculpted out of clay based on a Chevy engine he found a picture of online. Ella made clay hearts and a flower to glue on an to her custom paint job. Livi wanted to have a "little Livi" driving her car. I debated Lego or playmobil figures, but none looked right so I decided to mold one for her (I guess I did do that part for her so I am a lier). It was an interesting experience. It started out looking like Genghis Khan, then I painted it and it looked like Livi Khan, and then after extensive rhinoplasty it ended up looking more like a very old Livi with botched plastic surgery. Oh well, she seemed happy with her, so on she went.

The Results: Ethan's car was wonderful to look at, and more unique than the shallow wedge shape favored by half the group, but alas, it was not the fastest. Caleb Bagley did great and he ended up getting 2nd or 3rd, I can't remember. It was an awesome car that after the race he had a real working engine he hooked up to it and made the car just fly down the track!

The open class, where anyone could make a car and enter, had 18 cars so it took FOREVER. Last year Ella had a hard time when her car never beat anyone, so I decided I should make a car too. One that all the kids would be guaranteed to beat. I needed something with form over function, and there was no better design I could think of...A SHOE!!! (I made it a peep-toe to be as poorly aerodynamic as possible).

I needn't have worried. Ella's car was smoking. At first it seemed like she had a shot at getting an award, but it soon became clear she was unbeatable. And indeed she won 1st place in the open class, even beating the cub scout that won the Derby (I was not so secretly thrilled)! I was glad I made the shoe, though, as some of the others (Livi) needed someone to beat. Ethan's truck and my shoe going head to head.

I had a lot of fun designing it and being able to see the smiles on the faces of the little people who's cars crushed it during the race!

Can't you just tell how much this means to Livi? I think she watched all of 1 race the whole time!

In addition to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd I made sure everyone got a "special" award for their designs. I didn't pick any of them, we had a panel of judges, so it was kind of fun for me too, to see what the kids got. Ethan got "Most Futuristic," which made his day. Ella got "Coolest Design" because she had the words "cool, cool" on her windshield. Livi got "Best Female Driver" for her figure. I got "Fanciest Car" which made me laugh. Caleb got "Most Realistic" (I think), Maddi got "Most Heartfelt"(it had hearts cut out in it), and Carter got "Looks Most Like A Futuristic Space Weapon" (it was a lightsaber). Really it was a lot of fun, it's just hard to feel responsible for something, but not be completely in charge so it can go how you want it too! At least we have another year before I have to think about it again!