Pine Wood Derby Delicious

Day 117

I position myself in front of the door.  I’m a human obstacle.  No one gets to the food unless they get past me.

Let’s be clear.  This isn’t what I had in mind when I heard I was going to be doing hospitality for the Pine Wood Derby.  (When your husband’s Cubmaster, you get volunteered for all sorts of things.) 

I'd envisioned something on the lines of this: Some food.  A couple of movies.  Decorations.  A few coloring sheets.   

The plan is to bring the food out in shifts so that it lasts for the event’s four-hour entirety.  Sounds reasonable, no?  Then the crowds begin to gather.  Around the empty tables of food.   

Firm but polite, I ask people to move away from the table and explain we’ll be bringing snacks out in a bit.  I don’t add that I’d appreciate it if they refrain from drooling.

“One’s in!” A seasoned hospitality mom calls and points to a side door.  A Webelos 2 quickly drops the cookie in his hand and has the good sense to look ashamed.  

The afternoon passes in 45-minute increments.  Every 45 minutes, we break the seal and bring out more food.  The crowds rush the tables.  The boys pick every last carrot, cookie and grape from it. 

“How was it?” my husband asks when we regroup at the end.

“Besides feeling like the Food Police, it was fun.” 

It’s also nice to feel like I contributed to something my boys enjoy.  Scouts normally fall under my husband’s domain.

Today I feel like it’s mine, too.