Raingutter Regatta

Roll joined Cub Scouts this year with myself as his adult partner. I felt with so many things taking me away from the kids, it was necessary for me to do something that would bring us close. Well that was the theory. We have been extremely busy pretty much every Wed. evening and weekends with various Cub Scout related activities. The only problem we have run into is that Roll is a slow warmer when is comes to new things and he is definately not into competitive sports. The first function we had was the Belt Loop Derby where the cubbies learned the basics of volleyball, flag football, frisby, and badmitton. Roll was extremely shy not knowing anyone but did pretty well. Later when they competed against each other it was a whole different story. I felt really bad since he is the smallest kid out there. Even in his own den, he is at least a head shorter than the rest of the group. I am sure that can be intimidating. Last weekend we had the Belt Loop Bananza with several packs from around Europe to include all over Germany, Czhech, and Poland. Roll learned how to shoot and arrow in archery, how to shoot a BB gun, and he earned his Science, Language, and Geography belt loops.
So today was the Raingutter Regatta. Roll actually enrolled Dad's help this week to teach him how to make a proper boat. Dad went online to research a bit but he was really good at letting Roll sand, paint, build, and decorate his own boat. The only thing that Daddy did was the super glue. The ceremonies began with the cubbies receiving their belt loops that they have earned. Next the competition began. There were raingutters set up on tables and the cubbies hold a straw in their mouths and blow the boats sail to reach the other end. The first to touch the other end wins. Roll lost his first race by seconds. His boat crashed just at the end and his referee wasn't watching to fix the boat (Roll wasn't allowed to do this on his own.) Unfortunately Roll didn't handle his loss very well. We had a serious talk and he almost refused to race again. But he did and he won the next two. Somehow though that didn't move him into the next bracket and I believe it had something to do with his attitude. In the end they awarded three cubbies for great sportsmanship, needless to say it wasn't Roll. I do think this will be a good experience and he knows the motto by heart which is to "Do Your Best!" Life can be so unfair to a six year old. :(