January update

It’s tough for me to write today because my favorite group of millionaires lost to somebody else’s favorite group of millionaires in a game I was sure would go my millionaire’s way. Oh well, we must persevere!

It’s been a typical busy couple of weeks. Today was one of Ethan’s last functions as a Cub Scout, the Pinewood Derby. For most kids this is an exciting event, but for Ethan and I, we sort of dread it. Neither Ethan or I really understand what it takes to build a “good car.” Our cars generally make it to the end of the track, but rarely very fast, and always much slower than most other cars. After the first year of innocence where we thought we could possibly achieve a place, we settled into the common goal of not finishing last. Last year we only achieved that goal by 1 or 2 places, and that was in the overall results, not just within our den! So it wasn’t too shocking this year when Ethan told me that he didn’t even want to make a car. Since I’m a den leader, though, I was bullied into pressuring him into making a car, so we did, but we did the barest minimum of work on it. No cuts, he wrapped it in a car wrapper purchased from the local hobby shop, we sanded and polished the axles and wheels like we’ve heard you should, and finally finished up the car on Saturday night. It wasn’t much to look at, but it at least went straight!

Today we held the derby at our church school. Ethan’s car was doing OK. They run each car in 4 races, once in each lane. His car took 3rd of 4 in each race except for the last where he took 2nd, but his times were very competitive. When the math was done, we were shocked to see that he placed 3rd in the den, of 9 kids! It’s his first trophy for any sort of individual (or team) event. I’m pretty sure I’m more excited about it…

I can tell he wasn’t all that excited because he had to leave early for his other weekend commitment, basketball. He and another boy from school are on a team with another local Catholic school who has a lot of really good players. Their team lays waste to most other teams they encounter, but not because of Ethan’s play at all. Today, though, he actually got to shoot 5 times, and almost made several of them! When we were driving home from the game, he didn’t say anything about the derby, only that he was sure he was going to sink at least one of those shots!!! He had a feeling he’d score points today!

Quin’s been his usual challenge, but is still full of surprising and funny comments. A few days ago, he, Ethan and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie. We all had our shoes off. I’m not sure how it happened, but at one point, Quin had put his foot on mine and Ethan had put his foot on Ethan’s. Quin Looked at me and said, “Look Dad, we made a sandwich!”

A few days later, Quin had gotten up earlier than everybody else in the house (again). He got tired of waiting for the rest of us to get ready, so he went upstairs to get himself ready. When he came down he had on a pair of orange pants and a shirt that was much too big for him. I told him that I liked his shirt, and he turned to me and said, “I know, I’m awesome!” Well, I suppose that self confidence is one of those nurture things…