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Greaves

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Everything posted by Greaves

  1. My son (who is 10) wants to go to the 2015 World Jamboree in Japan, like, really bad. He has started saving money--but his parents have started saving as well. He learns the principle of what thrift really is, by saving some of his $4 a week allowance & monetary gifts he receives, AND he learns it from the example his parents are setting. so, no, I don't expect him to pay his way. I do expect him to work for what he wants, but that's not the same thing.
  2. "We still have a ton of their things in our garage that someone needs to come and get. " Email the committee and tell them you will drop off these items at the meetin' place. Don't call, unless you're willing to have a conversation. Sticking to email lets you be terse & keeps you in control of what you do and do not say. You'll have the luxury of reviewing your words before committing, and it'll be easier to avoid letting your hurt be seen. Assuming you don't want them to know your feelings. Which I wouldn't. Emailing three or four or five people at once means you have
  3. I'm sorry it went so badly. I'm sorry your family was hurt. I'm just sorry for the whole mess. I hope you find a nice, healthy pack, and your son has a good time.
  4. Our pack had 33% turn out for July's summertime activity--our first ever raingutter regatta. It was a lot of fun.
  5. I'm a WDL, and we had a campout at a county park. I arrived first in uniform, and was the third or fourth person in line to checkin. The folks working the desk opened a second register for *me.* It's nice when the community recognizes we're a community organization.
  6. Llbob said: "Here's a Safety Afloat condition I routinely violate: Regardless of how large or small a vessel is all passengers must wear a PFD at all times. Honestly if we are on a Ferry boat, large fishing boat (aka party boat) or large sightseeing boat I just go with the flow." scouting.org says: "Safety Afloat standards apply to the use of canoes, kayaks, rowboats, rafts, floating tubes, sailboats, motorboats (including waterskiing), and other small craft, but do not apply to transportation on large commercial vessels such as ferries and cruise ships." http://www.scouting.org
  7. I would like to mention that national has come out with female leader shirts--without the bellowed pockets on the chest. this is a move of which I approve. I have a shirt with the bellowed pockets, and it's hard to imagine a less flattering look. (I donated it to the Pack--I wear a previous shirt, one of the Oscar de la Renta ones, that I found at the Salvation Army store.)
  8. It is my opinion that the policy of the church in the original post is reactionary rather than proactive. I suspect that something happened sometime in the past that made leadership say, "the genders must be separate--including separate hotels for males and females." Not letting women camp isn't the key fact--it's the separate hotels that leads me to this conclusion. It sounds to me that this church, rightly or wrongly, feels that they suborned fornication in some form or fashion within the Troop. I think it would be of value for gender-separate units to tell prospective families
  9. I think it would be good for the family under discussion to talk about these matters. I think it would be good to give the boy a chance to feel ownership of the decision to change troops. It might be beneficial to make sure the policy under discussion really does exist, and to ask the CO for their reasoning. Perhaps it's an old rule that the CO didn't know was being enforced, or there was a miscommunication somewhere along the line. You won't know unless you ask.
  10. Dad may be ok w #2 son having a 3rd year as a Webelos Scout, but I bet money #2 son will have a problem with being left behind when all his friends in the Pack move on & leave him behind. He needs to make friends with the boys in his year, not his brother's.
  11. would a cookie sheet work? We made box ovens once, but we did the box-flaps-make-the-door model. My Webelos den made 8. One burnt the cookies, one caught on fire, and the other 6 turned out tasty tollhouse cookies. THAT was a fun meeting.
  12. Spider-Man 3 has Cub Scouts in it. (when it's Spider-Man Day, they are on the stage & obviously, recognizably, real Cub Scout uniforms.)
  13. Anonymous, you said "The Troop that my boy [and I] transferred to has an unofficial policy that no females will be present on any overnight activity. This is because the boys want it that way. Nobody talks about it, but that is the way it is." Since this is an unofficial policy, are prospective families aware of this policy before joining? I think it would be more honest for the PLC to make an official policy. When it's a decision that the boys make for themselves, and then communicate honestly, I think it would be a lot easier for new parents to support.
  14. Mpual, no need to apologize. I forgot the new loops. (I'm a WDL, and have spent A LOT of time explaining "this is this, that is that" to parents, Scout Shop ppl, and the Cubmaster. The den earned Aquanaut, Swimmin BL & pin at WRC last summer. no one believed me when I said they should get both pins. "No, Aquanaut trumps the regular swimming pin." Um, no, it doesn't, the requirements are different. . . but ANYWAY) Considering your last question. . .I think it depends on the boy. My son is ten. He goes through the list & says, "Oh, I'd be interested in that." When he was se
  15. mpaull: "doing things over the summer that could qualify for Belt-Loops and Pins (notably Baseball, Cycling, and Soccer, as well as Traveller and a few others" Traveller is a Webelos Activity Pin, not part of the belt loops & pins Cub Scouts Academics and Sports Program.
  16. I spoke to my friend today, and the SM has sent out a correction email. He said he was wrong, and mother and fathers are equally welcome on the trips. (So, I think he DID mean "No women allowed" but now understands that doesn't work.) My friend didn't have to ask him for clarification of the policy--the policy was changed before she could talk to him about it. Good for him. And I encouraged my friend to let her son go it alone. I talked to her about the concept of an adult patrol over by itself, and that the boys don't benefit from meddlin'. So I think she (and her son) will be al
  17. I have a friend whose son just crossed over to a Boy Scout Troop, where the Scoutmaster's welcoming email included that "no mothers are allowed." I had suggested to her previously that she ask the SM for a shakedown cruise kind of campout, where the new parents can see how things go, and then feel more comfortable leaving the new Scout with them. Now, I told my friend to ask *him* what he meant, not me. I can be open-minded enough to think he meant "if any women come along, they are coming as Scouters, not mothers." As mothers, my friend and I discussed this--including the kindes
  18. I don't know the headcount, but a Pack in our district has five tiger dens, and similiar numbers for the other ranks. (five tiger dens just stuck in my mind. that's a lot of first grade boys) I would guess they have around 120 boys, and I'm being conservative. They have very successful fundraisers, and some of our districts most enthusiastic volunteers come from them. I personally prefer our smaller pack of 30 boys, but the families involved in the megapack have a great time.
  19. I love the beltloop program. I think it's a great, age-appropriate way to introduce the kids to the idea of merit badges. As a homeschooling parent and den leader, I often fit belt loops into our cirriculum. (Wildlife conservation, for example, is a natural science project.) I've been thinking about the "more pins than belt loops," and I have a possibility. If the boy earned & received the art belt loop in November, then it would be the art pin in April. so maybe the imbalance is caused by earlier beltloops. I would definitely take the approach that "Gee willikers, I hope yo
  20. The parent is Akela--we are to trust them to accurately report what their son has done. I would probably talk to the parents, though, and explain the process again. With them being first-year parents, is it not somehow possible that (through over-zealous ignorance) they made an error? I would also mention that doing everything in the first year eliminates the adventure of doing something new as a Wolf. And Webelos requirements can be met by earning (or re-earning) belt loops as a Webelos. and, as former advancement chair for my son's pack. . . that is awfully expensive. I would p
  21. I'm sorry. Scouting's not s'posed to be like that.
  22. I am sorry this is happening. When I saw the length of your post, I said, "Wow, if it takes that many words, it must be bad." I was right. Staying in this pack puts you at risk for enabling unethical people continue to be unethical. Thinking as a pack parent, I say, "Oh, everything must be fine! See? Faithhopelove's running things." If you leave, the Pack will either sort out the problems, or collapse. In either case, your family will be in a better unit. If you want to stay, you need to get to know your Chartered Organization Representative. This person coordinates b
  23. Sometimes, that kid that leads the others to idleness can be (or become) the kid that leads them to more positive things, too. There's a young man in my Webelos den that thrives on being in charge. When he doesn't buy in to whatever is going on, he's a distraction to us all. But when he's in, he's in, and so's everyone else. and I also would mention consistency. Consistent expectations, consistent consequences.
  24. Hm. My son was awarded his Webelos badge last Pack meeting. It's an oval. He wants a diamond. I haven't tried to get it for him yet, but I figured the card would work the trick. (I want to keep the oval for his khaki shirt--to which he doesn't want to switch yet. He's put a lot of work into accumulating stuff on the blue one. ) might need to ask the advancement person for an assist, then.
  25. Aren't there rank advancement cards that are awarded to the boys when they received the rank? Our Pack uses them. Do Troops? Speaking as a parent, I want to be able to buy my son what he needs; I thought that's what those little cards do. They tell the Scout Shop to sell me (his momma) the restricted item that he earned.
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