Last night after dinner, Twizzler (my 10 year old son) and I headed to my best friend’s house. Tonight is the annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby and the poor kid didn’t have a car yet. The block of wood has been sitting on a shelf in our family room for weeks.
Parent fail.
Knowing that Dad didn’t have the right kind of saw to shape the car and that he’d be home from work late last night, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I asked Safire’s wonderful husband, Juice, for help.
Juice and Twizzler (yes, even I am laughing at their nicknames now…) retreated to the kitchen where they began planning and then cutting and then smoothing the car. I chatted with Safire as she got the kids ready for bed, and eventually ended up playing on my iTouch on the family room couch. I could hear sawing and vacuuming and other manly sounds coming from the kitchen. Those men were all business.
And then I heard the voice of my 10 year old rise above the sounds of tools and saw dust. “So….Wanna talk or something?”
Juice chuckled. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”
For the next 30 minutes, one or the other of those boys was talking non-stop. Juice patiently explained the reasoning behind design choices and why the heaviest car doesn’t always win. It was all technical talk. Twizzler followed along as best he could, interjecting to offer his take on pinewood derby car mechanics and to answer the occasional question.
And I couldn’t help laughing to myself in the other room as they continued talking, wondering if either one of them would have said a word to the other if Twizzler hadn’t said “So….Wanna talk or something?”
And I couldn’t help think how different the conversation would have been had women been involved in making the car.
Women are all about the relationship. How things looks and how they make you feel. Men are all about getting a job done. Talk is a space filler.
In the end, though, Twizzler left with a fantastic (though plain) car for tonight’s pinewood derby race. They got the job done.
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we had our first pinewood derby today. A lot of prep and love goes into those cars. You’re inspiring me to take a pic of Big’s and post it.
You’ve got a few years. Though, you may just want to start thinking about that first pinewood derby car now. It’s a lot of work when you don’t know what you’re doing. LOL
That is beyond sweet of him to help! My DH works a lot so I feel the pain of having to take it into your own hands!
actually i do. just kidding. it seems their roles got reversed
THAT is a fabulously done car!! Wonderful job! I love how it’s clean and sleek! Great job!
That is so dang nifty!!! Can’t wait till my son starts getting into stuff like this… he’s only 3 now. :)
That’s a nice looking car. And you are so right, men just want to get the job done.
Now THAT is the best pinewood derby story ever. It totally beat ours….The first time my husband “built” a car for a no-rules unofficial pinewood derby, he just duct taped a piece of lead pipe to the top of the car. And he won. :)
I’m glad we’re not the only ones with blocks of wood sitting around. My advice? Find someone who LOVES pinewood derbies and have him be your son’s mentor. It worked for us!
He’s got a few years to wait, doesn’t he? LOL. I wish my husband was that excited about it…..but obviously, it’s not a big thrill for him.
My best pinewood derby memory is the year that my husband didn’t have the time to help our son with his car. I helped him build it. That was the year that he won.
Such a sweet story and so true!
Aw geez, we’ve had our car since the first of December and we still haven’t opened the box. And it’s next weekend. I’m dreading trying to get this done last minute, because I know we’ll wait that long.
My husband talks about Pinewood Derby all the time. He can’t wait until our son is old enough!
Also? That car looks rad!
Oh my goodness! That’s kind of funny. I can just imagine that scene. So whose car was faster?? LOL
You sound like you know Juice. :)
I absolutely hated Pinewood Derby when my son was young. My ex husband and my boyfriend would practically fight over who would help build my son’s car. I think one year he had 2 cars because each man wanted to outdo the other. It was truely pathetic.
That is a slick looking car. Applauding your son for bringing Juice out of his shell :-P
My brother is surrounded by 2 younger and 2 older sisters. I know just what you mean. :)
I don’t know the first thing about car-building. But I can help him make it pretty. :)
That’s a pretty sleek-looking car! :)
My 9yo son is super chatty, but I think he gets that from having three older sisters. In fact, he’s pretty in-touch with his feminine side, which will be awesome when he’s older, but for now gets him a lot of rolled eyes from his buddies at school.
Oh how I have been there. Only my son insisted that it look like Dale Jr’s car- oh sure, let me just make that happen. :)