Zach's pinewood derby car got first place from his pack (2nd overall at our ward derby) and so he was invited to go to the district competition free of charge to race his super-fast car. Thinking I'd be a nice mom, I told him we could. (What I didn't realize was that meant we'd spend nearly FIVE hours at the mall on a Saturday afternoon – sans Nate, who was working – while the serious scouters made sure that all 72 cars raced 8 heats each. Yes, 72 heats total.) Luckily for Zach, when I was ready to bail, the parents of the winning car from our ward who also had gone (and were watching closely) told me Zach's car was doing really well and offered to keep an eye on him while I took the other kiddos to have some fun, and he got to see it through.
In the end, it was worth it – they awarded Zach the 3rd place medal for the Bears. He was so excited.
His buddy (also a bear) had somehow been racing with the Webelos, and didn't win anything, although his car had beaten Zach's before. We ended up being informed a few days later that if the other boy would have been in his correct group, he would have taken third place instead by just 1 second. The organizer told us Zach could keep his medal, though, since that was the official result.
When I told Zach about the email I'd recieved, he immediately said, "Well, I'm going to give the medal to Elliot, then, since he deserves it!" No hesitation, no sadness, no rationalizing, nothing. One of those great parent moments, although Zach doesn't really get why it's such a big deal. "It's HIS medal, mom – he earned it!"
I couldn't be prouder if he'd have brought home the 2 foot trophy.
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