Part of the
legacy of the Watson clan is a strong sense of fairness, kindness and
compassion. You’re taught to try your best, play fair, be a good a sport and
think of others first. We aren’t an overly competitive crew, which comes in
handy considering we aren’t exactly athletic powerhouses. So, it was simply a nostalgic heart of remembering his own Boy Scout days that Mark signed the kids
up for the Pinewood Derby at the YMCA.
Leah’s dad,
“Pop-Pop” was in town the weekend before the big event and we charged him with
the task of taking these blocks of wood and turning them into race worthy
machines. Pop-Pop admitted his pinewood derby skills were a bit rusty, so he
asked his brother for a few tips and set to work with the kids. Ben and Clara
were proud of their cars and started counting down to race day.
Every day we
would stress that the main point of this was to have fun and prepped the kids
that their cars wouldn’t win every race (secretly praying that they would each
win at least one round). Driving to the Y that morning we practiced the art of
lowering expectations, lectured on good sportsmanship, the whole drill.
Let’s just say
there were some very competitive dads on race day. The other race cars were
souped up, streamlined and weigh-in was serious business. Ours were strong, simple, sturdy— reflecting good
Scottish sense. We did a few rounds of test racing Ben against Clara, with Ben
always just beating Clara out in the end. With our eye on the fancy racers and
serious dads we smiled and prepped ourselves for disappointed kiddos.
But then the race
bracket began and our cars kept winning— EVERY SINGLE TIME. Car after car they
left in the pinewood derby dust. We were totally amazed and everyone else was
totally frustrated. Pop-Pop had engineered speed machines. The only time Clara
lost was in the final round to Ben. This was after they both had beat out a
multiple-pinewood-derby-champion.
It was great. We
cheered, we jumped, we text messaged updates to Pop-Pop the whole time. And
here’s the thing— even nice guys like to finish first once in awhile. Every now
and then, your team just needs a win. And a win that comes so unexpectedly
reminds you what grace feels like and you want to share that lavish joy and
love to others.
But we won’t be
sharing our pinewood engineering secrets— those are reserved solely for the
Smith/Watson tribe, that's only fair. XOXO
