Raingutter Regatta Disaster

I am so new to all of this scout stuff, so I am trying to learn about all of these first cub scout things with Riley...So, this raingutter regatta was a first for me...where was I when my brothers were doing this? Regan and I have been so busy lately, so we just gave Riley the sailboat and told him to design it himself...he did a good job; he painted it, designed the sail and assembled it. Well, the day of the regatta came and as I started to look at the other sail boats, I knew we were in trouble!!! Riley noticed the same thing, and immediately wanted to quit and go home!! I told him that Fackrell's don't quit and that he would just have to go through with the race even though he didn't have a rutter and the boat was not put together right.

He did the first round of the race, totally lost...like, by a long shot, and did the best he could! He took his boat out of the water, went to the hallway and sat on the couch trying so hard not to cry! My heart went out to him because I knew we should have helped him with the boat, but at the same time, it was a learning experience for all us. Riley learned that he couldn't blame anybody and that he needed to follow through the best he could. We learned that we need to read instructions and follow through with what is going on in the kids lives. We are usually right on top of things, but lately we have been just trying to stay afloat!

We took our sad scout home, he threw his boat away in the garbage and wanted to just forget about the whole thing! A lot of the time, these boats and cars are completely done by the dad so that they are guaranteed to win, but next time, we will have Riley do most of the work with some assistance and guidance from us! You LIVE and you LEARN!!!