The Car That Crossed The Finish Line

Being the first child, Treyson has naturally been the guinea pig for a lot of our parenting experiences. One of which was the pine wood derby. Year after year, Nate and Treyson would work hard creating a car (remember, Nate is an accountant, not a man that knows how to work complex tools), and then we would all cross our fingers and toes hoping that the car would be able to finish the race. More than once, the car didn't quite make it and a rousing pep talk would then be given to Trey about all that mattered was that he had fun and tried hard and that there were other things that he excelled in and that winning really didn't matter.

Now we're onto boy #2 in cub scouts. The block-of-wood kit was given to him as a Christmas gift from his leaders. There was an audible moan from Nate when the car was opened. Tanner immediately started brainstorming ideas of what he wanted his car to look like (none in which Nate would ever have the slightest idea how to make). Nate also started brainstorming and hit the computer. We love the world-wide-web and the items which can be purchased from people that know a whole lot more about making pine wood derby cars. Tanner actually jumped on board and loved looking at all of the cool designs. With a click of a button, Tanner's car was designed, cut, and shipped to our doorstep. In Nate's defense, by buying the car pre-cut online, he didn't do anything differently than he would have here at home. He would have had to taken the car to someone that had tools and knew how to operate them, and then have them cut it out for him. When the car came, Tanner did have to sand it, paint it, add decals, and the wheels. Everyone was happy with the outcome. Major bonus: the car crossed the finish line, each and every time. Did it take first place overall? No, but we had a smiley boy that didn't need a pep talk. Lesson learned. We'll never cut a car again. Tanner has two more years, and then Max will have three years. Just think what we'll come up with by Max's final year. I see blue ribbons in our future!