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Pain and Sadness: The Weekend
It was a busy weekend.
Saturday
Sebastian and I were participating in the district Pinewood Derby race on Saturday. We'd been told it started at 8:30 AM, so that's when Teri dropped us off (it was being held at the local high school). Teri was volunteering at the animal shelter that day, so she couldn't come.
Moments after she drove away we discovered that 8:30 was when the people who were RUNNING it were supposed to be there. Registration for his group didn't start until 10 AM, and the races themselves didn't start until noon! Teri picked us up and we went home for an hour.
The races...well, let me say this: EVERYONE CHEATS AT THE PINEWOOD DERBY. Except us, that us. You should see the glittering, polished, utterly perfect cars that kids bring in; cars which were obviously made either by their fathers (assuming that their fathers are master carpenters) or by professional racing-car design firms. It's obscene. The kids are supposed to do all the work themselves, and instead I think most of those kids - particularly the winners - not only never did any work on their cars themselves, they never even got to touch them. Some, I think, never even SAW "their" cars before the meet!
Anyway, each car ran four races. There were four cars in each race. Sebastian's car came in 4th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd. That was actually an outstanding showing for a car that was actually made by a child, particularly because that was probably the ONLY car at the meet which actually HAD been made by a child. Or maybe there was one other one.
Can you tell that I'm a little pissed off?
Any way, Sebastian really wanted a trophy. I guess I was indelicate in explaining that there was no chance after his car came in last twice. He had been having a good time, and being really good...but after that, he got very angry, and told Teri (she'd showed up by that point, the race went late) that he wanted a new father. He also said that he and his animals would be giving me a "surprise" the next morning, i.e. they were running away (he's done this a few times - threatened/tried to run away, that is, not actually succeeding). It all broke my heart, but what could I do?
I will say that if you want to win the Pinewood Derby, the secret seems to be (apart from having professionals make it for you) to basically eliminate all but the bare minimum of wood from the car; make it as flat as possible, and then add lead to increase the weight right up to the maximum (5 oz.). Polish it to a mirror sheen, and then have the robots at the Ferrari factory give the whole thing a laser-smooth coat of racing paint and wax.
You know, they really should have a separate Pinewood Derby where cars that are actually made by kids can compete. It would be a novelty, if nothing else.
Here it is: that rarity, that marvel, a Pinewood Derby car actually made by a Cub Scout! He later named it "The Cannon Shark" because we had to duct-tape a cylindrical weight to it to get it closer to the proper weight.
After the race we went up to Boston to visit a sick friend. By the time we got home it was really late, and Sebastian was asleep. We woke him with some difficulty and got him into bed.
Re-reading this, I see that it might seem that I'm going way overboard with bitterness. You might even think that I ended up taking this out on Sebastian. I hope that's not true; I'm really pretty sure that it's not. It's just...well, I'm trying to make these entries amusing, or at least minimally interesting, so as not to bore you to death.
Sunday
Sebastian spent most of the morning and afternoon over at Teri's mother's house. I drove Teri to work and spent the next few hours doing laundry.
In the process I moved the hamper from the bathroom to the dining room. As I've mentioned, the dining room is being completely redone; it's empty, except for a particularly large piece of furniture that we didn't want to move out (too heavy), so we wrapped it in plastic. Sarah (one of our three cats) climbed into it and basked in the sun. As the hours passed, I moved the hamper so she could stay in the sunlight. I also opened windows throughout the house - it was 60° today! - so that all the cats could enjoy the spring air.
Here's Sarah. It's not her most decorous pose. :D
Later I picked up Teri, and we went together to pick up Sebastian. I insisted that we drive over to Market Basket and do some grocery shopping; we've been eating out, well, for almost every meal for weeks. It's really scary.
When we got home, Sebastian was momentarily distracted as he got out of the car. As a result, he ended up slamming the door on Teri's leg, hard, with a sickening crunch. I realized what was happening just as he did it and shouted "NO!", but I was too late.
When he realized what he'd done, he burst into tears and ran into the house. Teri was in a lot of pain, but I ran after him. He was sobbing and saying that she would be angry with him. I did what I could to reassure him (and so did she, when she hobbled up), but he wasn't having any of it. When we got him inside he went up to his room, packed up a pillowcase with what he felt were essentials (including, I later discovered, a snow globe), and tried to run away. We didn't let him of course, and he wasn't really serious in any case. I chatted with him, and he said he was running away because he'd hurt Mamma and also because I was so mean all the time.
I get that a lot. Basically "mean" means turning off the TV, or making a joke about something he says or does that he doesn't understand. It does bother me when he says it, although I know that I'm not mean...still, I guess I have to work on making fewer jokes.
We also read a lot of Doctor Dolittle In The Moon this weekend. Not only did I read it at bedtime, but I read it in the car for several hours (cumulatively, not several hours in one session; our longest session was probably an hour, on the ride up to Boston). He's enjoying it very much.
Saturday
Sebastian and I were participating in the district Pinewood Derby race on Saturday. We'd been told it started at 8:30 AM, so that's when Teri dropped us off (it was being held at the local high school). Teri was volunteering at the animal shelter that day, so she couldn't come.
Moments after she drove away we discovered that 8:30 was when the people who were RUNNING it were supposed to be there. Registration for his group didn't start until 10 AM, and the races themselves didn't start until noon! Teri picked us up and we went home for an hour.
The races...well, let me say this: EVERYONE CHEATS AT THE PINEWOOD DERBY. Except us, that us. You should see the glittering, polished, utterly perfect cars that kids bring in; cars which were obviously made either by their fathers (assuming that their fathers are master carpenters) or by professional racing-car design firms. It's obscene. The kids are supposed to do all the work themselves, and instead I think most of those kids - particularly the winners - not only never did any work on their cars themselves, they never even got to touch them. Some, I think, never even SAW "their" cars before the meet!
Anyway, each car ran four races. There were four cars in each race. Sebastian's car came in 4th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd. That was actually an outstanding showing for a car that was actually made by a child, particularly because that was probably the ONLY car at the meet which actually HAD been made by a child. Or maybe there was one other one.
Can you tell that I'm a little pissed off?
Any way, Sebastian really wanted a trophy. I guess I was indelicate in explaining that there was no chance after his car came in last twice. He had been having a good time, and being really good...but after that, he got very angry, and told Teri (she'd showed up by that point, the race went late) that he wanted a new father. He also said that he and his animals would be giving me a "surprise" the next morning, i.e. they were running away (he's done this a few times - threatened/tried to run away, that is, not actually succeeding). It all broke my heart, but what could I do?
I will say that if you want to win the Pinewood Derby, the secret seems to be (apart from having professionals make it for you) to basically eliminate all but the bare minimum of wood from the car; make it as flat as possible, and then add lead to increase the weight right up to the maximum (5 oz.). Polish it to a mirror sheen, and then have the robots at the Ferrari factory give the whole thing a laser-smooth coat of racing paint and wax.
You know, they really should have a separate Pinewood Derby where cars that are actually made by kids can compete. It would be a novelty, if nothing else.
Here it is: that rarity, that marvel, a Pinewood Derby car actually made by a Cub Scout! He later named it "The Cannon Shark" because we had to duct-tape a cylindrical weight to it to get it closer to the proper weight.
After the race we went up to Boston to visit a sick friend. By the time we got home it was really late, and Sebastian was asleep. We woke him with some difficulty and got him into bed.
Re-reading this, I see that it might seem that I'm going way overboard with bitterness. You might even think that I ended up taking this out on Sebastian. I hope that's not true; I'm really pretty sure that it's not. It's just...well, I'm trying to make these entries amusing, or at least minimally interesting, so as not to bore you to death.
Sunday
Sebastian spent most of the morning and afternoon over at Teri's mother's house. I drove Teri to work and spent the next few hours doing laundry.
In the process I moved the hamper from the bathroom to the dining room. As I've mentioned, the dining room is being completely redone; it's empty, except for a particularly large piece of furniture that we didn't want to move out (too heavy), so we wrapped it in plastic. Sarah (one of our three cats) climbed into it and basked in the sun. As the hours passed, I moved the hamper so she could stay in the sunlight. I also opened windows throughout the house - it was 60° today! - so that all the cats could enjoy the spring air.
Here's Sarah. It's not her most decorous pose. :D
Later I picked up Teri, and we went together to pick up Sebastian. I insisted that we drive over to Market Basket and do some grocery shopping; we've been eating out, well, for almost every meal for weeks. It's really scary.
When we got home, Sebastian was momentarily distracted as he got out of the car. As a result, he ended up slamming the door on Teri's leg, hard, with a sickening crunch. I realized what was happening just as he did it and shouted "NO!", but I was too late.
When he realized what he'd done, he burst into tears and ran into the house. Teri was in a lot of pain, but I ran after him. He was sobbing and saying that she would be angry with him. I did what I could to reassure him (and so did she, when she hobbled up), but he wasn't having any of it. When we got him inside he went up to his room, packed up a pillowcase with what he felt were essentials (including, I later discovered, a snow globe), and tried to run away. We didn't let him of course, and he wasn't really serious in any case. I chatted with him, and he said he was running away because he'd hurt Mamma and also because I was so mean all the time.
I get that a lot. Basically "mean" means turning off the TV, or making a joke about something he says or does that he doesn't understand. It does bother me when he says it, although I know that I'm not mean...still, I guess I have to work on making fewer jokes.
We also read a lot of Doctor Dolittle In The Moon this weekend. Not only did I read it at bedtime, but I read it in the car for several hours (cumulatively, not several hours in one session; our longest session was probably an hour, on the ride up to Boston). He's enjoying it very much.