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| Kid C and his Pinewood Derby Skateboard, powered by the Force. |
The other cars had no idea what they were in for. Can you imagine seeing this in your rear view mirror?
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| Yoda's coming to getcha! |
Unfortunately, Kid C was pretty sure the Force would compensate for any drag. Here's what happened:
And that same result was repeated several times throughout the night. Kid C's car was the slowest. And he knew it.
Kid C was a little disappointed, but we tried to teach him a valuable lesson. Sometimes it's just as important to be unique as it is to be the best.
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| Standing out from the pack. |
And his mom learned a valuable lesson. You don't have to be the fastest, but next time aim for somewhere in the middle.
My conclusions after our first ever Pinewood Derby? I hereby vow to be conveniently out of town for every subsequent one. It is not worth the stress.
What do all y'all think? Which car would you pick from those pictured above?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSorry Jenilyn! Kid B apparently determined your comment should be removed. I have revoked his computer privileges. :)
ReplyDeleteWow! How funny! I saw that and wondered just what I'd said. Apparently I've very controversial or something. :)
ReplyDeleteJenilyn- Very very controversial!
ReplyDeleteLove the Star Wars skateboard. There should be a style portion of this competition! Kid C definitely would have won that!
ReplyDeleteHe was robbed. His 'car' kept getting put in the slow lane.
ReplyDeleteI will say though that it was pretty awesome to see the legos hanging on for dear life.
Lulabell- He totally should've gotten a trophy for awesomeness!
ReplyDeleteSam- His lanes were most definitely lined with the sticky side of tape.
Oh my gosh! That is just about the cutest thing ever. I am SO not looking forward to that time in my sons life.
ReplyDeleteI agree though- his is the pimpest one- though after typing that I realize maybe I need to come up with a better adjective seeing as that's not a word, nor age appropriate.
Olivia- I love "pimpest" as an adjective! His car is indeed tricked out.
ReplyDeleteBeing the huge Star Wars fan that I am, I'd definitely pick Kid C's car. So what if it's not the fastest; it's the coolest! And, if you ever come upon a bunch of storm troopers, wookies, or clones, then you'll be able to defeat them in no time. Whereas, the other cars will run in fear.
ReplyDeleteJenni- That's exactly what I thought!
ReplyDeleteI swear there's a ringer brought in every year.
ReplyDeleteI hate Pinewood Derby's! I have no idea what it is supposed to teach the kids. Parents can be insane at those things too! I would love to see the scouts do something different like who could give the best back massages. Parents could be the judges and have the kids rotate through. Everybody's a winner! Although, as a side note, I really liked Kid C's car!
ReplyDeleteDonna- I know! And if I knew where to hire the ringer, I'd pay money for it!
ReplyDeleteErin- I hate them too. And your massage competition sounds infinitely better.
If it makes Kid C feel any better, my self-designed derby car (which I painted florescent pink, as would any self-respecting female forced to race in a male-dominated event) came in dead last every time, too. And I didn't even get a "best lego-car" award! :)
ReplyDeleteAt my son's pinewood derby, one of his wheels came off on the first race. We tried a quick repair, but it never worked right. It was very sad. I swear it's the same dad, I mean kid, that wins every year. I'm not sure what's to be learned either.
ReplyDeleteRobin- You got to compete? That is so cool. Maybe if I'd competed when I was younger, I'd feel differently.
ReplyDeleteLast night one of the sisters of the scouts made a pink ballet slipper car. It was so cute!
Ruth- I know! The parents do all the work, so really we're competing against each other. I will not be there next year. :)
I only competed this year because I'm the cub committee chair. :) All the leaders were supposed to make cars and we had a leaders race.
ReplyDeleteWell, of course, we over here would all be voting for Kid C's FORCE car! It's fantastic! Even if Yoda and his band dud add a little extra drag. Great teaching moment. But I'm with you, please don't make me participate!! So glad you didn't leave us hanging with the results. Love, love, love the car.
ReplyDeleteRobin- Fun for you!
ReplyDeleteCath- Part of me believed the Force would compensate as well...
Yoda wins hands down -- that dude has some style. (I would think those ears would have been a little more aerodynamic. I mean, they're like Dumbo.)
ReplyDeleteGood job, Kid C!
I despise the pinewood derby. I think it's all about a bunch of middle-aged men building cars to see who can make the fastest one. I think most of the time, the dad actually forgets that it's their child's race. I think most of the time, when a child does actually get involved in the design or any aspect of the derby, his car is bound to lose. I wish they would get rid of the pinewood derby!
ReplyDeleteOur pack breaks down the derby to:
ReplyDeleteScout race
Sibling race
Adult race
We have awards in all three categories and then awards for coolest looking, funniest, and so forth. That way everyone gets to compete and demonstrate a variety of skills. You can't always be the fastest, but you can certainly be the coolest!
You can almost always tell when the parent has done more work on the car than they really need to, but it them and their kid who is missing out on a valuable lesson and it will eventually show. Maybe not next week or even next year, but it always catches up. A father and cub scout eventually moved into boy scouts and theat's when it was noticed that years of pencil whipping achievements and his dad building all of his cars, showed that the kid really didn't know how to do anything.
Cheers!