The Cutest Cub Scout on the Block

I have somewhat complicated feelings about Scouting, which I will not be clearly delineating here since my blog is read by my descendants.  

Let me instead tell you some things I love about Scouting. I love that the boys learn goal setting and so many great skills. I love the camaraderie, respect, and attention to detail that are learned in the Scouting program. Mostly, I love this super cute and enthusiastic Scouter. 

I loved helping with Joseph's Wolf pack and seeing him earnestly learn and recite the Scout law.

I love how excited he is to go to Scouts each week and the way he wants to do his neckerchief and slide "just right."  I love that he enjoys being at Scouts with his buddies.

I am not a tremendous fan of the prep for the Pinewood Derby race. I am not much of fan of needing to impose on many different people who have wood cutting and sanding tools so the car could be shaped correctly. Not really a fan of staying up till midnight the night before the race, laboriously chipping out plastic from the inside of a wheel to "balance" it. (I might have said some unkind things in the hours leading up to midnight.) But we weren't doing anything different than any other Scout parents, as significant parental help is what is expected.  There is just no way that an 8 year old could master the tools and techniques necessary to make a decent Pinewood Derby car.

So, the night before the big race we finally sent Joseph to bed at 10 p.m. and Dan and I stayed up working on the last few details of the car.

Joseph's car did very well and placed in most of his races, but we knew that he wouldn't move on because only the top four teams go to Districts.

Through some quirk of accounting, this year (2013) the top six cars were able to go to the Pinewood Derby Districts. Lucky us . . . the fun just continued!

I suppose this is the moment to come clean and 'fess up to the fact that we were the worst Pinewood Derby parents for our oldest son.  The worst . . . ever. We hadn't learned yet what was actually required and expected for this super fun activity. Instead, we really thought that our 8 year old son was supposed to shape the block of wood himself with sandpaper.  Dan traveled out of town a lot those days, so it was Brandon and me sitting out on the back patio, sanding and sanding and sanding.  I bet you can guess that his car never really made it to "aerodynamic."  When Dan got back into town just before Brandon's big race he helped him slap the wheels in place and off we went.  We definitely didn't do any of the all-nighter wheel balancing and refining.

Brandon's car only lumbered halfway down the track before the wheels fell off and it crashed and burned. In our last ward each Cub Scout only did Pinewood Derby one year, so that was his one and only chance.

We were probably motivated a bit by guilt from this debacle as we more intelligently assisted Joseph with his car. I even bought a book online called Pinewood Derby Secrets in which 20 steps are outlined for a truly magnificent car. I think we finished the first three steps, and that took many hours.

Lucky for us, in our new ward the Scouts get the opportunity to make a brand new car every one of their years in Cub Scouts.  Did I say the Scouts do it? I mean the parents, with the assistance of the Scouts.  So, in another month we will begin again . . . . (to be continued)