nixtress's Diaryland Diary

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In which my boys make me proud!

Woo-flippin'-HOO!

My sons are absolutely amazing. Just..beyond amazing. Really damn cool kids.

Tonight was Pine Wood Derby night. Got there early, weighed in and were smacked upside the head with the notion that both cars were seriously underweight. We're talking bordering on anorexia here. Time was spent hotgluing metal washers (not washing MACHINES, silly) to the underside of both cars and Ta-Da! Presto chango. 5 ounces.

Picture this:

The Track o'Wonder is all set up in the middle of the church gym, standing tall in it's majesty. Trevor and Ryan are all a-twitter with excitement, nerves on edge waiting for the moment they get to place their cars on that track.

After much weighing and registering, Tiger Cubs are up. My little man marches confidently up to the track, sets his mouse-shaped car in it's slot and cheers excitedly as it wins. Big Man Trev does the same, with a little more trepidation but excited anyway.

After several heats against their fellow Tiger Scouts, some wins and some losses, it's onto the next batch of Scouts.

In the span of those heats, my sons didn't once blink when they didn't win. They enthusiastically cheered for the other boys just as energetically as they cheered for themselves. There was no hanging of head, no slumped shoulder, no sad and defeated looks. They were wonderful sports!! And that's why my sons are amazing and wonderful. In direct contrast to many of the other boys, my kiddos knew in their hearts of hearts that it was all about how they played the game. They lost several, won a few. And when they raced against the bigger boys, there were way more losses than wins.

Ready for the kicker?

Trevor placed 3rd and Ryan won 2nd place in their division (Tiger Scouts).

I think they won all the way around.

I'm so proud. There were boys in tears, just absolutely broken by the fact they didn't place higher. My kiddos took it in stride. There's another boy in our den, one with not so much money and not so much attention, maybe not so much going great at home. This little boy won Most Original tonight, got a big ole plaque and was just on Cloud Nine, and I can't think of a better person for this to have gone to. It just completely made his night, and his dad's as well. All in all, a renewal of my faith in what I'm striving to teach my sons. A reminder that they're learning in leaps and bounds and actually putting some of it into play.

And I had such a good time watching them.

Happy Monday evening.

N.

11:27 p.m. - 2004-03-29

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