Humvees and Angels
The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. Ah yes, it’s time for the Pinewood Derby. Nothing makes a parent groan like those two words.
We don’t have much experience with the Pinewood Derby. We’ve done a little research on the internet, but we don’t own the right tools and the last time one of us took a woodworking or metalworks class was in junior high. And it was me. (I did make a very nice metal dustpan and a whale shaped wooden cutting board.)
So we really try to focus on the fun. We encouraged Boo to come up with a clever design that he could do. We found a design online that we were able to copy and he came up with this car which he calls the “Army Fighter.”
Phil took him down to the woodshop to get his wood cut then promptly turned the rest of the carmaking over to me. Being the one in the family who has actually turned out copious amounts of folk-painted home decor items, I guess I was a natural. Though you’d think that after wearing woodland camouflage for 18 years, Phil would know how to paint it. He says not.
(Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t actually like crafting with the children. Every fiber in my being fights the urge to take over the project and do it right. Did I mention that I head up most of the crafts for our Brownie Troop? I’ve learned to smile through the pain.)
So I found myself instructing the boy how to base paint and why it’s important to listen to mama and not paint the bottom so that you have a place to set it down to dry. Then we consulted various models of camouflage, including the original inspiration for his car and I taught Boo how to sponge paint. Dab- dab, dab-dab, pounce, pounce, pounce. As you can see, he did a really great job. All the camouflage painting is all his. My inner perfectionist took over and I did the detail work. Phil donated the Army sticker.
Race day arrives and Boo is excited. We talked about how great his car looked and how now matter what happened, he had fun. His car did ok. He made it into the semi-finals for his den and that was it. But he did have a great time and he went back after lunch to see the pack finals and cheer on his buddy that won in his den. He’s already planning on a more aerodynamic design for next year. Overall a good experience in creativity and competition. Losing with dignity and aspiring to do better next year. Having fun in the process. It’s all good.
What I have intentionally left out of the story is the Powder Puff Derby.
While looking for fun patches for my Daisy troop last year, I discovered a Powder Puff Derby patch. How fun! I brought it up to my Brownie co-leader this year. Maybe any girl in our troop who has a Cub Scout brother and enters the family division could get a Powder Puff Derby patch. Oh, but what about the 3 (out of 10) who didn’t have a brother in Cub Scouts? Maybe we could ask the Cubs if we could let our whole troop race – and ooo! what if we could race our troop by itself! Oh, but what about all the other Girl Scouts on our base who have Cub Scout brothers? And the next thing you know, we’ve got a bona-fide Powder Puff Derby.
Jenn was slightly less enthused. She was an eyewitness to the pre-Derby planning and the headaches it entails. While I kept saying how easy this would be, she would patiently explain just how much work this “little” race was going to be. She was right, especially when almost as many Girl Scouts signed up as did Cub Scouts. From Brownies to Teens, we had about 25 racers.
The Girl Scouts really rose to the occasion. They glittered, beribboned and bejeweled their cars. We saw a lot of pink and purple. A great time was had by all and I just smiled and tried to be helpful and pretend like Jenn and her husband didn’t do most of the work for this. Phil MC’d for most of the Powder Puff Derby, with Bip riding on his back in the Ergo carrier, happily munching goldfish crackers.
So where was Pumpkin Girl in all of this? Well, she made the sweetest little car, painted purple and glittered, with a little angel as the driver. She named the car after her sister: the Becky Angel.
The rest of Pumpkin Girl’s story is for tomorrow.
I can see it just fine now and it looks good! My son was so impressed with your derby cars but he wanted to know how big the cars are. It is hard to gauge size from the pictures.
Also, I totally understand how perfectionist tendencies make crafting with children difficult. As a fellow perfectionist, sometimes, I just have to have some crafts that are just for me in order to let go of the ones that are supposed to be theirs!
Don’t tell my Cub Scout, but I am not a fan of the Pinewood Derby. Last year there were tears, adult and child. It’s coming up soon. Ugh.
Wow, Lorri those cars are great.
We’ve never done scouting derbies but we have done AWANA derbies. We had much fun and the last time all three of our dc came home winners of various sorts. I think the girls enjoyed it just as much as Jacob. Tell them to have fun thinking of designs for next year!!!