I’ve got competition on my mind.

Last weekend was the Castle Challenge between DeKalb and Sycamore high schools. The schools do a good job getting their students pumped up about the rivalry; my first-grader came home gushing that basketball players, cheerleaders and dancers had all visited his classroom, telling the kids how great the game was going to be and how much he wanted to go. He’s not all that interested in basketball, but the kid loves some good hype.

But we missed the game because there was another competition looming larger in his young life: his first-ever pinewood derby was the next morning, and the night of the game was also the night he was to check in his car and do a test run.