funscout

One time at a Cub Scout Round Up, I did have a parent ask me if Gays were allowed in scouts. She was very nice about it, but said that she wouldn't sign up her son if Gays were allowed. I won't even tell you how the two male leaders with me "played" that up, after the mom and son had left the building! I won't add any more discussion because I'm going to go get a turtle sundae.

Our District has also awarded BB and Archery belt loops after participating in Day Camp. I don't have a problem with that, since it is the only way a Cub can earn those. Some of my Cubs did both activities with their parents, but since it wasn't at a BSA sponsored event, they couldn't get the belt loop. Now, that doesn't make sense. Personally, I don't feel the need to have every single boy recite the safety rules, when I see him following them every single time without being reminded. For the boys who DO need reminders, then, yes, those boys should be asked often, to tell what the

My brother was a very picky eater. Each year that he came home from a summer camp he would announce, "Guess what? Now I like spaghetti! (or other food)" My older son's friend is even pickier. At Summer Camp he would eat cereal if offered for breakfast, but for lunch and dinner, the only thing he would eat was the dessert (sometimes). He is a tiny, skinny kid, and I worry about him since he doesn't like to eat. I don't know how he survived the week on so little food.

I am not a card-holding member of the uniform police, so I can't advise you as to whether you are correct or not, but from what you wrote, it looks okay to me. It would be in a much better place than the ones that hang off the button, anyway! I never wear a temporary patch in the plastic "hanger/protector" because of where it lands after being put on the pocket button.

I agree with LisaBob that parents should be notified of their son's misbehaviors. I would not want my sons getting away with something that I would not allow at home. However, I don't tell every little detail of a minor infraction. Some parents take it too personally and over-react, while with others, it's obvious the boy learned the behavior from the parent, and the problem is laughed off. Sometimes I've felt like a real heel when I can tell I just ruined a parent's day. I can relate, because my younger son has ADHD, and every day I hear of something he did wrong. It does get over

Our final Pack Meeting was a big hit. The families got to go fishing or play games such as frisbee, catch, badminton, etc. Then we had a cook-out and the Pack Meeting. After that, the families who had chosen to camp overnight got to continue the activities until dark, at which time we had s'mores and fellowship around a campfire. One Mom later told us that her son, who is very shy and quiet, woke up twice during the night with a big smile on his face and told her, "I had SO much fun. I can't wait to do this again next year!" Needless to say, this will be a repeat, and we're hoping to do

Thanks for all the good advice! I had forgotten about the belt loops and pins. We will be having our planning meeting for the 2006-2007 year in a few weeks, and it will be nice to have a Tiger Leader on board for that. I need to check to see if he filled out a leader application when he signed up his son. If not, I'll get him an app. and have him take Youth Protection and Fast Start online. Hopefully he can get his other training done soon, but we'll make sure he knows the basics before he starts meeting with the other Tiger pairs.

Check with nearby Packs to see if one of their BALOO trained leaders would be willing to camp with your Pack. I don't know if it's okay for 2 Packs to camp together, but if that's the case, then maybe you could find a "brother" Pack with BALOO trained leaders who would like to join you. My Pack just had our end of the year Pack Meeting and Camp-out. I am currently the only one who has taken BALOO training, and I will be done with Cub Scouts when my younger son crosses over to Boy Scouts next Spring. I keep reminding the other leaders that there won't be any more camp-outs if they don't

We just had a Spring Round-up and got 3 Tigers officially signed up for the coming year. One of the dads was chomping at the bit to be the Tiger Leader and to get going immediately with meetings. Our Pack usually suspends meetings in the summer, but we do have summer activities planned and we always notify all incoming Tigers so they can participate, too. Although the other Committee members and I have no problem with him meeting with his small den in the summer, we think he should stick with the family portion and electives of the Tiger book. We always get more boys who sign up in the

Pureice, Amen to your post! When some of my cubs rush to a den meeting still wearing their soccer/baseball outfit, I'm thrilled that they made it at all. In my older son's troop there are always boys showing up in the Fall in football pants since they would rather show up on time, than stop to change into their uniform. As it is, they have to eat in the car in order to make it to the meeting on time.

We have 3 Packs and 2 Troops that sell popcorn in our small community. I wish the Packs and Troops didn't both sell popcorn. It gets frustrating to hear people say, "I already bought from another scout, or My nephew/grandson/etc. is in one of the other units, so I'm buying from him." It's hard enough when a family has 2 or more Cub Scouts selling popcorn, but then when you learn that your sons will be competing for the popcorn sales their whole scout careers, it gets pretty tiring. The Unit Money-Earning form asks whether you've checked with neighboring units to avoid overlapping te

My District's Day Camp used to start out with a very boring first day. The kids had to sit and listen to a 40 minute lecture on rules and safety for archery and another 40 minutes of the same for BB shooting. Some kids never came back for the rest of the week, and I couldn't blame them. Who wants to go to camp to just sit and listen to adults talk? Luckily, things have improved, so the boys now get a quick demonstration and a short talk about safety and then they get to do what they came for - shoot arrows and BBs! It's too bad some instructors think that the more information they

Trevorum, I guess my husband and I would be considered "wackos" by your co-workers. I have no problem with a group of people sharing a casual lunch, but I would be uncomfortable lunching one on one with a male friend or co-worker if either of us were married to someone else. A former co-worker of mine (female) was told by our (male) boss that he wanted to take her to lunch on her birthday. She asked me to come, too, because she was uncomfortable with the one on one situation. When the boss found out I was joining them, he suddenly had a conflict. My friend was VERY smart to not go al

Gern, Like you and your wife, my husband and I trust each other completely. That being said, neither of us would ever purposely put ourselves in a situation where we could face temptation. That means that I would never share a tent with another man, my hubby wouldn't go to lunch/dinner with a female co-worker (if it's just the two of them), etc. Although neither of us can imagine ever being tempted to "cheat" on the other, we show our respect for our relationship by avoiding uneccesary temptation.

Maybe the GTSS should say "cold weather camping" instead of winter camping. This would allow cubs in Hawaii to camp during "winter" months, but not Minnesota cubs. Of course, there would need to be guidelines as to what temperature would be the cut-off for warm vs. cold weather camping. And then we'd have to take windchill into account.... Maybe we should just rely on our own common sense after all?!

I think you are right to have your son continue with his age-mates, rather than skip ahead to be with his grade-mates. If he skips to Bear, he won't get a chance to earn his Wolf badge. I only know of one boy in similar circumstances, and he stayed with his age-mates because of the problem LisaBob mentioned. He would have been too young for Boy Scouts if he finished Web. II with the boys in his grade. And then what do you do? Go for a 3rd year of Webelos, when he's already earned everything? Conversely, the boys I know who have been held back a grade, moved up in scouts with their fo

Okay, I'm a little confused. While I would not want to have a Webelos DEN camp-out in the winter, is it okay for a well-prepared Web.II (and his Dad) to camp with his prospective troop at Klondike Derby in January? Before I read this thread, I was planning on allowing my younger son to do this just like his older brother had done when he was a Web. II. After reading the first responses, I thought it wouldn't be allowed. Later responses led me to believe it could be allowed. Maybe my son won't even want to camp at Klondike and this will be a moot point, but so far, he has wanted to do eve

Lynda J, you are right, it would be worse to have an unmarried couple where only one is a parent of the child, and who knows how long the "significant other" will be in the picture. This was the case with my niece's leader. I still don't think unmarried adults should share a tent, because that tells the kids that it's okay to sleep together without getting married. I've never understood why a couple (especially one with kids) refuses to get married, but then expects the same benefits of a married couple. They have the right to do as they want in their own home, but they need to follow

Thanks for all the ideas. I'm going to suggest to the troop that they do their sign-up and payment 2 weeks in advance, but allow the boys to turn in the permission slips as late as the day of the camp-out. We also need to be better about reminding the PL to call his Patrol mates who missed the sign up meeting, so they can call the Scoutmaster if they want their name on the list.

Thanks, scoutldr, for providing the name that I couldn't think of.

I agree that current video and computer games are addictive. Pac-man type games were fun, but certainly not something you'd spend hours playing. We were the last hold-outs of my older son's friends to finally buy a Play Station. The only good thing I can say about it is that it's a wonderful incentive for our boys to behave, get homework done, etc. They HATE to lose their video privileges! One time I decided to try out one of my boys' favorite computer games to see why they had such a hard time getting off it when we said their time was up. I put in the CD for Zoo Tycoon, and T

Our Council has offered incentives/rewards for Packs who increase their membership numbers each year. New Cubs were given a fishing lure at the time of registration last Fall, and were invited to go fishing for free at a Council sponsored event. (I don't know if this was National or just local "Hooked on Scouting") They were also given a voucher from our Scout Shop for 10% off the cost of their uniform. I agree that competent leaders are the best defense against retention problems. I'm not sure what incentives they had for troops.

I agree with campcrafter. This could be the best thing for him. When people can help others, it sure does wonders for their own self-worth. Definitely keep an eye on him, though. I have an uncle who is a recovering alcoholic. He went through 6 wives and countless jobs before finally going straight. He tried rehab. a couple times, but kept falling back to drinking. His current (and longest lasting) wife convinced him to try the medication (I don't know the name) that causes vomiting when mixed with alcohol. That's the only thing that has succeeded in keeping him from drinking.

Eaglebeader - I like your troop's way of handling this. It sure would help avoid having disappointed boys. It would also make the lost permission slip issue a non-issue. After my son's got lost, I made sure he didn't turn in any other permission slips too early, for fear they would be lost, too.

I'm just wondering what other troops do about this. Our troop requires permission slips to be turned in at least 2 weeks in advance of an outing, in order for the tour permit to be turned in on time, and to allow the cooks time to plan menus and do their shopping. This point is stressed all the time, but there are still some who try to get around this. If the outing is local and the parents are transporting their own kid, then the 2 week deadline is not strictly enforced. Last night we had 6 disappointed boys who won't get to go on this weekend's camp-out, because they didn't get t