McK's 1st Pinewood Derby or School of Hard Knocks?

February 15th, 2008.

Mark, McKee, and I went to the Pinewood Derby on Friday.  We arrived just in time with only a few minutes to have the car inspected, tape on a few weights.  

They introduced Mckee as the newest scout and went through some awards.  Then the race began and McKee's car was to be the first to race.

 

McKee's car was pretty darn fast.  Of course he won the first race... Mark and I assumed.  

But just as it crossed the finish line one of the older scouts called out "Those wheels are not the right wheels"  My heart sank.  I could see Mckee's face go from total elation of victory to devastation and disqualification.  You could see that he was devastated and was trying to hold back the tears.

Now let me get you a little background on what happenend previously during the week.  We were given a pinewood derby car kit that was missing one nail.  Mark went down to the hobby shop and got some weights, nails (which came in a bag with wheels), paint, etc.  I had talked to one of the scout leaders and he had mentioned that the nails of the hobby shop were the same so I didn't worry about getting the exact nail out of the kit.  Not paying attention to what nails came with what wheels,  I carefully aligned the wheels and nailed them as straight as I could to the car.  I was completely unaware that they were not regulation wheels.

Back to the Pinewood  Derby.  At this point, McK could not hold back the tears.  Neither could I.  We went out in the hall and bawled.  I felt awful that I had not paid attention and put on the wrong wheels.  He felt bad because he had been disqualified and he had been accused of cheating when he didn't.  We cried a while and lucky for us no one saw.  Brother Risk was very kind and gave us a second chance and allowed us to put on regulation wheels.  Mark quickly put on the wheels with no time to align and balance.  We raced again and crossed our fingers.  Unfortunately we did not win.  McK was sad again.  Mark saw an opportunity to teach a wonderful lesson.  He said "McKee, you need to learn to be happy for other peoples success and learn from them so next time you will be the successful one."  McK thought about it for a minute, took a deep sigh in, fought back a few tears and took it like a true gentleman.  He is an amazing boy.  One of the things we love about McKee is that you can reason with him.  You can explain things and he understands it.  Before long McK was running around cheering for the others and having a wonderful time.

You might say it was a bittersweet night.  McKee's emotions definitely went for a rollercoaster ride (so did mine) but I wouldn't trade it for anything because the opportunity to teach a great lesson is so precious.  In the end McK got a ribbon for "the most creative".

After the Derby, we took McK to Red Robin.  McK was glowing.  You could see how special he felt.  He said "thank you" probably 50 times.  I would recommend taking your child on a date with just mom and dad.  It's amazing how special they feel.