Eagledad

>>My view ... kids have a whole adult lifetime to do stuff he'll not want to do. So why the rush to start it early. If it really makes my kid's life miserable then it's not a positive.

>>Long time scouters....... How do you find balance????? Have you paid for scouts to attend events out of pocket???? How do you deal with the sport coaches and band directors??????

>>From my observation at the swim check..I understand the anguish and agony and intimmidation they cause people

>>We have some well mannered boys, but we also have some boys, I bet most of you would discard.

>>A Scout is Obedient. A Scout follows the rules of his family, school, and troop. He obeys the laws of his community and country. If he thinks these rules and laws are unfair, /*he tries to have them changed in an orderly manner rather than disobeying them*/.

>>We aint there yet but yes we are at a decision point. Make or break time for me in the next few months.

>>more importantly I will work to set up and reinforce all our boys living the oath and law and calling out the ones who don't.

>>I really hate discarding one boy especially one that could really benefit from scouting

Taxes for most politicians are a tool to manipulate the behavior of the masses, not for paying the bills. That is why a 15 trillion dollar deficit is not a big deal to most in Washington. As a result, Fair Tax style reform of any kind is not seriously considered since only small minority of politicians would consider it. Barry

>>I need to sit down and think of how I should act around this kid--he is good.

>>I am an ASM..though I guess a "senior" one. I doubt I have the temperament yet for SM or I am just not ready. I was told that this weekend and pretty much agree. But I am deeply involved. Next infraction I am circumventing our kind-hearted SM and talking to the parents. I will talk, tactfully, to the other Adult leaders.

>>spending cuts alone won't do it

This is silly, taking more from the rich won't even put a dent in the budget or deficit problem. Its purely another political strategy to gain votes from the majoirty of non-rich. Barry

>>A couple days later he does this stuff again--the kid is cruel--and I talk to him. He lies so sweetly to my face and I start to get mad. He smiles some more and I realize that he realized that he knows how to push my button.

I agree with everything you said TT. As you are pointing out, we learn from last years struggles to make the next year better. After all most good scout leaders started out as parents just volunteering a couple hours a week. Even the best of them have to be trained. LOL Barry

>>Hope you enjoyed Disney!!!!

>>So, when your unit goes to summer camp do you allow parents to attend or is it only SM and ASMs? How about committee members, can they attend? Where do you draw the line?

Hi all, we just got back from a wonderful family vacation. All our kids are grown so these trips are more about family rebonding than the fun vacation activities. Like scouts, the activities are just an excuse to be together. I guess because I no longer have little ones to hold hands with in the crowds or to hold and lay their head on my shoulder when they get tired, I enjoy watching other young families on their vacations. Something about the sparkle in the eyes of a child when they are about to experience the next ride at the amusement park. Something about the excitement of parents watching their children laugh. There was one family with two toddlers asleep on the bus ride to their hotel. They clearly had a great day, but all the excitement had caught up and now it was the struggle to get everyone home and bed. Between the two folded strollers, the bags of souvenirs and sleeping children, they didn't have enough hands to manage a quick exit off the bus. So when the bus stopped at their stop, I grabbed a stroller without saying anything and help them off the bus. Dad gave me a clear gaze of why and thank you at the same time. I responded "been there and done that" as I got back on the bus. I turned to looked out the window as the bus was driving away and saw both mom and dad waving at me in thanks. That was very nice. Anyway, the next day we were walking through another amusement park when I saw a park employee point to the shoe of a Webelos age boy. The whole family looked down where the employee was pointing an saw his untied shoe. The immediate response was not the webeloes age boy stopping to bend down and tie his shoe, it was mom letting go of the toddler sister to bend down and tie little Bobby's shoe for him. My first thought was little Bobby is ready for a troop so we can wean him off his mom. That's what we do, we teach eleven year old boys how to stop and tie their own shoe. We teach a simple independence that prepares them to be responsible adults. It's not that mom is being a bad parent, she is just on the inside unable to see the big picture. She is a mom and tying shoes is what moms do. It's the boy who needs to show mom he is becoming a man and needs some room. Its kind of funny how summer camp discussions of home sickness on forums are generally focus on the scout. But I learned from being a scout leader and parent that the parents are suffering from home sickness as much as their son. In fact, it's usually the parents who cause much of the problem by telling little Bobby how much they will miss him, how much little sister will miss him, how his friends will miss him, and even how much Rover will miss him. We eventually started working with the parents a few weeks before camp to instead talk to their on about his adventures and fun he was going to have. We started preparing mom and dad for their home sickness so that they all could enjoy his time away at camp. Once they understood it was something the whole family suffered and not just their son, they knew how to del with summer camp preperation better a we had a lot less home sickness problems. A scouts first summer camp is his most important because that for most scouts is there first real separation from the mom and dad link. Summer camp is their first real experience in independence and first real experience of independent growth. It's healthy and it's at the right time in the boys life. I explain this to the parents so they understand and hopefully encourage for their son to have the experience. And for themselves to start getting used to their son growing toward being a man a little step at a time. So that's why we are here. Scouting was started so that we help all the little Bobby's learn to stop and tie his own shoe before mom's instinct does it for him. Little Bobby has a long way to go before he leaves mom and dad for his own life, but we can help the family prepare for that day by the little things he does in scouting. And maybe the difference we make from our time that we give is that little Bobby will stop and tie little sisters shoe just to makes moms day a little bit easier. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

Wow

Hi Mrface Welcome to the forum. Lots of good stuff here when you clear away the the chaff. You're doing it wrong. If the scouts are paying attention, they are having fun. You need to go to the Cub forum and ask how to making pack meeting fun and exciting. When you are doing it right, the scouts are standing more than sitting, yelling and cheering more than listing patiently, laughing and looking forward to the next skit. Evauate all your meetings, every time you see scouts talking to their buddy, they are likely bored, so, change what you are doing. Put boring announcements in news letters. Shorten award ceremonies by presenting them by age, not dens. Do lots of cheers that requires scouts to stand and yell. Only sing songs that are fun for kids, not adults. Tell lots of jokes. You will know when you are doing it right because your scouts will be exhausted. So before you go and try to change the parent's parenting skills, change your meeting. It's a lot easier and more fun. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

>>I am actually Portuguese-Irish-German with some American Indian and Hawaiian thrown in.

>>God bless Merlin!

>>If, contrary to the Troop Method, you start with the Patrol as the primary unit of Scouting, and live up to Baden-Powell's and Green Bar Bills' minimum standard of at least one Patrol Hike per month away from the other Patrols, the SPL, and the adult leaders, then you should want your Troop's best leaders as your Patrol Leaders, because they are the Scouts you must trust with the safety of your boys without adult supervision. If your SPL is your Troop's best leader, why leave him back at camp with the adults?

Well I'm of a different opinion. If the long range vision of the troop is going to use an SPL, then I would, and have, used an SPL with one Patrol. Its hard enough for adults and scouts to adjust to major changes in the troop that they can't control, developing a program around what you expect the future troop to eventually look like is just that much less to adjust. NOW NOW, that being said, you would see very little difference in a single patrol with the SPL to the single patrol troop without the SPL. That's how I did it and it worked fine. Barry

Plastic spiders on sleeping bag? CC never did figure out who did it. Barry