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...reversing roles.

My son's a Cub Scout. This, traditionally, is a father/son activity. Has been forever. Will be forever. But, in our family, it's not. Scouting just isn't something Steve's into. And that's fine. Our troop is made up of some incredible parents (moms and dads alike) that don't make Connor feel bad at all that his mom is more involved than his dad in scouting.

And so, tonight was the pinewood derby race.   A couple of weeks ago we had the cutout night.  This was held in one of the dad's ultimate "man-cave" woodshop.  The boys learned about saw safety and Connor designed and cut out his own car - Posideon's Fury.   He sanded it, painted it and (with a little help from mom) got it weighted down and graphited up for the big competition.  


But on Sunday (weigh in was Tuesday) Connor mentioned that parents could build cars and race them.  I, looking at my insane schedule, immediately wrote him off.  But then he asked again, and with such sincerity that I had to stop and really listen.  This meant a lot to him.  So, being the kick ass mom that I am, I bought all the materials to make a car Sunday afternoon and cranked out the "GingerSnap75". 

We worked together to get them exactly 5 ounces, the wheels spinning equally and painted to truly look "wicked" or "tight" or some other word that means "awesome" to a 10 year old. 

Race night was a bit of a cluster**** and they had loads of technological issues, so we didn't run all four rounds, but Connor's car got 1st in both of its heats and mine was 2nd and 3rd. 

The palm crushing high five that I got made my night, my week, my forever.  Even though I was a mom in a dad centered room, my son thought I rocked.  Hell, I do rock. 

Comments

Rob Monroe said…
You rock indeed. What a wonderful experience to share.
6:04 AM
Jenn said…
Scott's Mom was also the one always involved in Scouts with his little brother. It wasn't his Dad's "thing" either. You can sense the bond that was formed during those years between the two of them, gender aside. You go girl. Be the Mom in the room...the whole troop will benefit from you being there I am sure :)
4:05 PM
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