The Burnsville 500 (inches)
Last night was the last Pinewood Derby any of my children would ever participate in. It is Matt's last year in Cub Scouts. Jim is not a worker of wood by any means and I think he's glad to be done with Pinewood Derby cars (this was the 9th one). I tried not to get involved with the Derby other than to watch it and cheer on my son's vehicle; I'll do every thing else to help my sons advance rank in the Cub Scout program, just not help with the Pinewood Derby car. I can only do so much, and so much doesn't involve coming within 10 feet of a band saw, or watching my sons come within that 10 feet either. I'd get very nervous. Think "freak out."
Our parenting philosophy, when it comes to school or scout projects, is to let the children do as much work on their projects as possible; and (forgive me for doing this) we tend to raise an eyebrow at some of the nearly professional-looking cars that the other Cub Scouts bring to the Pinewood Derby. Of course we wonder who did more work on the car: the kid or the parent. Who knows, maybe some boys are pros with electrically-powered saw technology; mine certainly aren't. My boys' cars have always looked like a kid designed (i.e. boxy and ill-painted with inexplicable paint color choices) and made them, with Dad strictly relegated to advisor/safety inspector/assistant. This year was no different.
Matt titled his car "The Million Dollar Car" because he thought it looked like a lump of gold. Can you see the $1000000 with the misplaced comma on the side? He used coins for weights to add to the idea that his car was "worth a lot of money."
To me, it looks aerodynamically challenged. But he came in 6th place out of 40, so I guess "boxy and angular" doesn't necessarily mean "slow". Sadly, I didn't get to see the race this year because of a conflict with Paul's track schedule. But Matt knows I was cheering him on from where I was stationed, waiting for the call to pick up Paul.
Our parenting philosophy, when it comes to school or scout projects, is to let the children do as much work on their projects as possible; and (forgive me for doing this) we tend to raise an eyebrow at some of the nearly professional-looking cars that the other Cub Scouts bring to the Pinewood Derby. Of course we wonder who did more work on the car: the kid or the parent. Who knows, maybe some boys are pros with electrically-powered saw technology; mine certainly aren't. My boys' cars have always looked like a kid designed (i.e. boxy and ill-painted with inexplicable paint color choices) and made them, with Dad strictly relegated to advisor/safety inspector/assistant. This year was no different.
Matt titled his car "The Million Dollar Car" because he thought it looked like a lump of gold. Can you see the $1000000 with the misplaced comma on the side? He used coins for weights to add to the idea that his car was "worth a lot of money."
To me, it looks aerodynamically challenged. But he came in 6th place out of 40, so I guess "boxy and angular" doesn't necessarily mean "slow". Sadly, I didn't get to see the race this year because of a conflict with Paul's track schedule. But Matt knows I was cheering him on from where I was stationed, waiting for the call to pick up Paul.
Comments
Matt's car looks wealthy and healthy.
I've really been trying hard to walk into another room while Annie does her homework and then check it afterward. She seems to becoming a lot more independent about pulling out her homework each day, reading the instructions, and getting started without asking me what to do.