Boys will be boys

Another blast from the past...

The Big Race

originally published January 19, 2007

*Warning*

The contents found in this post are highly confidential and therefore I am at great peril for sharing them. But, hey a girl has gotta blog....

Tomorrow is my son's first Pinewood Derby race. Needless to say the last couple of weeks have been filled with a flurry of preparations, including but not limited to my husband taking possession of a Pinewood Derby race track for practicing purposes. This is Jordan's first year competiting in this race, but I know it has been on my husbands mind from the moment we found out we were expecting a boy, nine years ago. We watched the movie Down and Derby a year or two ago with much amusement. I knew there was much truth to it, but yet didn't fully understand the magnitude of the Pinewood Derby and how it would affect my husband and son until it happened.

A day or two after Christmas Soctt mentioned that the derby was coming up in January. On New Year's Day we went to my brother and sister in laws home. Roy and Scott disappeared to the garage and I thought nothing of it until we were loading up the kids to go home and the kids had to crawl around the very large pieces of wood that took up the entire length of the car. I knew immediately what it was. The track. A couple of days later Soctt said something about getting a car from the scout store. I said, doesn't Jordan get one at cub scouts. He informed me that yes he would, but he needed a practice one. And so it began.

My husband fixes wrecked cars for a living. He also does quite a lot of work out of our his garage. This work includes painting cars. So he has all the necessary tools and equipment required to "properly" work on and paint the perfect pinewood derby car. Last night, after keeping my son up waaaayy past bedtime, Jordan and Scott presented the car, er cars to me. They are both beautiful. One is blue with white racing stripes. The other is red with flames. Tonight after some fine tuning and weight double checking and then a race or two or twelve the final decision will be made....which of the two cars will be the chosen one.

This is the best picture I could provide you with at this point. Evidently no one, with the exception of Jordan and Scott, is allowed to touch the car. They might mess up the alignment or otherwise damage the vehicle. I found this out after I was playing with it last night, driving it on the coffee table and Scott very carefully snatched it away from me and placed it high on the book shelf, out fo reach.

One night after coming in from the garage Scott shared a secret with me. A secret that he says has been passed down through his family. He came from a family of 6 boys. Therefore his Dad had 21 combined years (3 years for each boy x 6 = 21) to figure it out and get it right. Those same 6 sons have had 9 boys so far that have gone through the same process. This means that there is a plethora of ideas, hints, and "secrets" to be shared in the "M" family. He let one of these secrets slip. He said it and then he regretted it. He looks at me in all seriousness and says, you can't tell anyone this. So my lips are sealed. I mean this is very serious business after all. I'll let you know how Jordan fares in the race tomorrow.