Sacrificing for My Kids

This weekend, I spent roughly 10-12 hours building a base for my son’s slot car race track. Now, before you go shopping for “Dad of the Year” awards for me, please know that we bought him this track 10 months ago for his last birthday. He’s been able to play with it probably 4 times since then.

The problem is that the track itself is flimsy, and doesn’t hold together on its own. Thus, it has to be set up and taken down by an adult. The purpose of this project, was to build a base and mount the track to it, such that it could be safely left in a child’s room… and reasonably expect it not to be in pieces and broken within minutes!

So, the whole thing started with a rough plan, some measurements, and some raw materials. Then slowly, with Maria keeping the kids at bay, it transformed into the base, and eventually the mounted track. And the kids LOVE it!

I really enjoyed this project, once it was done. In the middle, it was plagued with frustration, disappointment, setbacks, rethinking, and all the other stages projects go through. The header image is the one casualty I suffered and also how I felt about the project when I finished the last test!

But the smiles and laughter of my kids playing with it, knowing it was not going to be easily broken, made it all worth while.

I love doing for others. I love working with my hands. I love my efforts bringing my kids joy. This project, as frustrating as it was, scratched all of those itches. And now that it is finished, it feels GREAT.

What projects have you worked on recently, that have brought you joy?