(Hunter, Tanner and Tanner)
Because Hunter won his derby car race he was off to Regionals again where all first, second, and third place winners competed. There were 36 racers in total.
However, there was some heated controversy for this particular race....
Back in January Matt tried to get clarification on the rules for how the derby car was built. When Hunter and Daddy accidental broke through the designated spot where the nail holes are pre-drilled for the wheels, the natural thing was to drill a new hole and move the wheels forward. The official rules don't say whether the wheels can or cannot be moved. So Matt, just to be sure, tried to contact everyone he could think of to make sure what the rules were. He went around in circles for months and never got a straight answer. So the day we show up with Hunter's car, what do they tell him, they can't run his car because he moved the wheels. What!? Thankfully I wasn't standing there.... Anyway, Matt was very firm and told how he contact these guys and even talked to one of the guys who said no and he was never told the rules! But one lady kept saying no, and that for 25 years they have been doing it this way...well this is our second year, we only have the official rules to go from and we saw no where it said that. Finally, they said they would just let him run it, but he may not be able to win....he would have to be disqualified...what!?
So Matt comes back and tells me what they had said...I came unglued....mama bear came out. Long story short I calmly (as best as I could) explained that we relentlessly tried to get the correct standing on what the rules were and that no one knew and they said it wasn't a problem until he made Regionals. I was maaaaaaad. After explaining also that it was absurd to penalize or disqualify an 8 year old for something we tried to get answers on was unfair and un called for. Anyway they agreed that because they didn't let us know and we had asked months ago, AND it wasn't written anywhere (that is a big one), that they would change the rules for next year, and if he won he wouldn't be penalized....then....
We start the race and he won his first 3 runs (by a landslide), the fourth run they ran his car backwards, so he placed 4th! So I went up to the man and told him what had happened and he told me we should of told them at the beginning of the run and he wouldn't run it again.... (even though they ran another car twice for another reason)... What?!
Back in January Matt tried to get clarification on the rules for how the derby car was built. When Hunter and Daddy accidental broke through the designated spot where the nail holes are pre-drilled for the wheels, the natural thing was to drill a new hole and move the wheels forward. The official rules don't say whether the wheels can or cannot be moved. So Matt, just to be sure, tried to contact everyone he could think of to make sure what the rules were. He went around in circles for months and never got a straight answer. So the day we show up with Hunter's car, what do they tell him, they can't run his car because he moved the wheels. What!? Thankfully I wasn't standing there.... Anyway, Matt was very firm and told how he contact these guys and even talked to one of the guys who said no and he was never told the rules! But one lady kept saying no, and that for 25 years they have been doing it this way...well this is our second year, we only have the official rules to go from and we saw no where it said that. Finally, they said they would just let him run it, but he may not be able to win....he would have to be disqualified...what!?
So Matt comes back and tells me what they had said...I came unglued....mama bear came out. Long story short I calmly (as best as I could) explained that we relentlessly tried to get the correct standing on what the rules were and that no one knew and they said it wasn't a problem until he made Regionals. I was maaaaaaad. After explaining also that it was absurd to penalize or disqualify an 8 year old for something we tried to get answers on was unfair and un called for. Anyway they agreed that because they didn't let us know and we had asked months ago, AND it wasn't written anywhere (that is a big one), that they would change the rules for next year, and if he won he wouldn't be penalized....then....
We start the race and he won his first 3 runs (by a landslide), the fourth run they ran his car backwards, so he placed 4th! So I went up to the man and told him what had happened and he told me we should of told them at the beginning of the run and he wouldn't run it again.... (even though they ran another car twice for another reason)... What?!
I was very pissed off to say the least, but all my fight in me was gone at this point (you know when everything is so bogus, you just want to wash you hand of it all!)
... and I looked over at Hunter and realized he wasn't as affected by it as me (in fact he had no clue to most of it), so I let it go....this was very very hard for me though. (I will ALWAYS fight for my kids)
The next run he took he was in unlucky lane 4 which made all the cars bump, because the track wasn't straight, so you were SOL if you got lane 4...we got lane 4....so Hunter was eliminated. Sigh... he placed in the top 12.
These are the moments when you really teach your children life lessons, everything about the Regional race was unfair. The unclear rules, the way they handled it, the track, the people running the track...we had all those things stacked against us. But life isn't fair, and it stinks, you try your best and move on.
These are the moments when you really teach your children life lessons, everything about the Regional race was unfair. The unclear rules, the way they handled it, the track, the people running the track...we had all those things stacked against us. But life isn't fair, and it stinks, you try your best and move on.
When we returned to the car after the race was over we decided to play up in front of the kids how fun it was, how neat it was that he got third last year and that others could have that chance too, how much fun it all was and all that kind of stuff. Hunter was totally okay with it and had a good time....we could of played the victims and the poor sports of how we were treated but we decided to not allow that to be the focus and what we took away from this experience. He brushed it off, so we could too...
....at least until the all the kids were gone, then Matt and I vented to each other of course.
4 comments:
Boy it sure was a good thing Grandma Matkin wasn"t there. If I had seen my sweet boy, Hunter's car going down the track BACKWARDS, I would have stopped the competition, and stood on the track until there was a rerun. Hey , Im thinking maybe Jenn inherited some of my genes. "the apple doesn"t fall far from the tree.
I said the same thing to Matt as he was trying to calm me down. I said "they're lucky Grandma isn't here!!!"
Congrats - you both parented so well by using this as a positive lesson about the simple fact life is not fair always. This lesson is one of the very most important. Once you realize this simple fact you are better able to cope and just shrug off the times you are dealt an unfair hand.
Love ya all
Hunter, you should of got a re run! Anyways, congratulations on finishing in the top 12!
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