March is going out like a lion... it's pouring rain, (thank heavens not snow!) I'm just getting over the flu. I was down completely for a few days, but it has taken me longer to bounce back than usual. I'm mainly tired. If you know me and the energy I normally exhibit, you can understand that I'm frustrated not to be peak levels!
Katie turned 12 last week. I turned 37 last month and didn't feel as old as I did when I thought about my little girl at 12. She now enters the youth program at church. I'm not worried about her there-- I consider all the girls in Young Womens as "my girls". I worked with them for almost three years and know most of them quite well. I suppose it's just that it's hard to see your kid get older. Katie still is quite young for her age: she still has an active imagination, but it's hard to think of her as having "crushes" on boys and starting to consider her jewelry options (This refers to jewelry that isn't made out of pink plastic and in the shape of a dolphin, mind you...)
Perhaps feeling the weight of my own mortality will bring out the better parent in me. I find myself recalling what I was like at 12 (scary!) and the amazing friends I had. I just want Katie to have all that is wonderful about this time of her life. She is a sensitive soul who cares deeply about the feelings of others. She also is fiercely independent (wherever did she get that from?!?) and makes friends easily. I'm not worried about her... Maybe I'm worried about me!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
The Last Laugh...
Today it snowed. It's March 21st and it snowed. UGH.... We drove to Chicago to spend the day at the Adler Planetarium (underwhelming) and on our drive back we saw three bad accidents on the Toll Road. I guess Mother Nature is reminding us who is in charge. Just as we get excited about Spring, just as my daffodils are peeking out of the ground, just as I think I can retire my winter coat and sweaters... snow.
Hopefully it will be the final cough of a winter that has been less than ideal.
Hopefully it will be the final cough of a winter that has been less than ideal.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Pinewood Prize
On Saturday Soren attended his school Pack's Pinewood Derby. (For those of you who don't know, Soren attends Cub Scouts at church and at school... I can explain later if you want to know why.) I must admit that I have a love-hate relationship with the Pinewood Derby. The process of designing and creating the car can be fun, but the drama of the Derby itself can be quite taxing.
At Christmastime we were in Utah visiting my parents. Our plan was for Soren and his Papa to have some good bonding time while making his car. (I was quite grateful for this as I didn't think I could help Soren with the kind of car he was planning.) So we brought the kit out with us and the two of them got to work. Soren had dreamed up the "stick of dynamite" car. My dad had the tools, the know-how and more importantly, the patience , to help make it happen. They worked hard, and over the time we were there, created a masterpiece.
Soren got to race the "Kaboom" car twice-- in both pack derbys. Unfortunately, he had strep throat for the church pack derby-- Dave and Katie ran his car in absentia. Soren's car wasn't the fastest, but seemed to be somewhere in the middle of the group. (This is quite important as a parent. You really want your child to win at least one heat. Never to win even one heat has dramatic consequences for both the child--crying, anger, disappointment etc.-- and the parent--feelings of utter inadequacy as a co-builder with your child) I use "child" instead of "son" because I have had to go through this with Katie last year at the Girls Scout "Powder-Puff" Derby. (Hate the name, loved her car-- she made the Wienermobile.)
At least with the church derby, there weren't too many boys and the racing was done so that things went fast and fun. They got to race against each other many times and somehow a winner was determined quickly. They were done in about an hour.
Contrast this to the school pack's derby. Dave arrived with Soren's car a little after 9am. (Soren was at a school-sponsored class about the Titanic that morning) I picked up Soren and another scout in his den around 10 and brought them to the school gymnasium for the races. The Webelos went first (1 hour of racing for around 15 boys) and then the Bears (Soren's gang) Again, his car was in the middle of the pack-- not bad, but I could tell that he was a bit disappointed. He did win a few races and after letting it sink in that his car was done for the day, went off with Dave to get some lunch from the concession stand.
Fast forward to the ending ceremonies where the boys got their trophies (everyone gets a small one for participation; larger ones were for the various categories and the overall 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.) Soren had hoped for a trophy for his car's design: most creative/humorous, etc. Unfortunately his didn't get one. This ceremony was around 3pm. Yes, I did say 3. The whole derby took 6 hours!! I knew this when I went to the building that morning, but it doesn't really sink in until your bottom goes numb after sitting for hours on a metal folding chair. Many of us parents talked energetically about how things could be streamlined. I was told that this type of discussion happens every year, but nothing seems to change. Sigh...
Right after the ceremony the boys were allowed to get their cars. Most parents were thrilled that they and their numbed bottoms could leave and go home. While we eagerly stacked the chairs, the boys did what the only thing they really wanted to do: race their cars. They lined up by the track and raced them-- three at a time. No one really seemed to care which car was fastest, they simply enjoyed racing them again and again. Maybe we could learn something from this and figure out a way to race for the title, while leaving time for them to simply have fun and race their cars at the end.
Soren was fine as we headed home. His passion was for his "Kaboom" car, not a trophy. He wanted to hold the car, not put it back in its secure box. I think the best thing to come out of the whole Pinewood experience was the fun that he and his Papa had in creating it. There is something to say for that--- something that there isn't a trophy for. I guess that is the true Pinewood prize....
At Christmastime we were in Utah visiting my parents. Our plan was for Soren and his Papa to have some good bonding time while making his car. (I was quite grateful for this as I didn't think I could help Soren with the kind of car he was planning.) So we brought the kit out with us and the two of them got to work. Soren had dreamed up the "stick of dynamite" car. My dad had the tools, the know-how and more importantly, the patience , to help make it happen. They worked hard, and over the time we were there, created a masterpiece.
Soren got to race the "Kaboom" car twice-- in both pack derbys. Unfortunately, he had strep throat for the church pack derby-- Dave and Katie ran his car in absentia. Soren's car wasn't the fastest, but seemed to be somewhere in the middle of the group. (This is quite important as a parent. You really want your child to win at least one heat. Never to win even one heat has dramatic consequences for both the child--crying, anger, disappointment etc.-- and the parent--feelings of utter inadequacy as a co-builder with your child) I use "child" instead of "son" because I have had to go through this with Katie last year at the Girls Scout "Powder-Puff" Derby. (Hate the name, loved her car-- she made the Wienermobile.)
At least with the church derby, there weren't too many boys and the racing was done so that things went fast and fun. They got to race against each other many times and somehow a winner was determined quickly. They were done in about an hour.
Contrast this to the school pack's derby. Dave arrived with Soren's car a little after 9am. (Soren was at a school-sponsored class about the Titanic that morning) I picked up Soren and another scout in his den around 10 and brought them to the school gymnasium for the races. The Webelos went first (1 hour of racing for around 15 boys) and then the Bears (Soren's gang) Again, his car was in the middle of the pack-- not bad, but I could tell that he was a bit disappointed. He did win a few races and after letting it sink in that his car was done for the day, went off with Dave to get some lunch from the concession stand.
Fast forward to the ending ceremonies where the boys got their trophies (everyone gets a small one for participation; larger ones were for the various categories and the overall 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.) Soren had hoped for a trophy for his car's design: most creative/humorous, etc. Unfortunately his didn't get one. This ceremony was around 3pm. Yes, I did say 3. The whole derby took 6 hours!! I knew this when I went to the building that morning, but it doesn't really sink in until your bottom goes numb after sitting for hours on a metal folding chair. Many of us parents talked energetically about how things could be streamlined. I was told that this type of discussion happens every year, but nothing seems to change. Sigh...
Right after the ceremony the boys were allowed to get their cars. Most parents were thrilled that they and their numbed bottoms could leave and go home. While we eagerly stacked the chairs, the boys did what the only thing they really wanted to do: race their cars. They lined up by the track and raced them-- three at a time. No one really seemed to care which car was fastest, they simply enjoyed racing them again and again. Maybe we could learn something from this and figure out a way to race for the title, while leaving time for them to simply have fun and race their cars at the end.
Soren was fine as we headed home. His passion was for his "Kaboom" car, not a trophy. He wanted to hold the car, not put it back in its secure box. I think the best thing to come out of the whole Pinewood experience was the fun that he and his Papa had in creating it. There is something to say for that--- something that there isn't a trophy for. I guess that is the true Pinewood prize....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
