IM_Kathy

I personally don't mind them... but then I use to work outdoors and needed cargo pants for hauling stuff in doing parts of my job. most of the women pants with cargo's are mostly for "style/look" and won't hold anything so I started wearing the men's.

since having to go on disability I still wear them. they are comfy. I hate purses so they allow me to carry my wallet, phone, and such.

when it comes to scouting I guess I'm not worried about how I look other than that I'm setting an example for the scouts. so I follow my son's troop's rules on uniforms... though I have to say since I easily overheat due to my meds that I do look forward to the summer months when they go to class B's and I can then wear sleeveless shirts (I always end up with 2 camp shirts each year so 1 I leave with sleeves and the other I cut them off)

my son's troop is shirt only - though for an eagle COH some recipients will ask that those that are participating in helping at the ceremony be fully uniformed.

my son wears the pants for SMC, BOR, and COH.

on campouts I agree on shirt only for traveling - here in Iowa we have so many different types of weather we camp in that having scout pants always on just doesn't make sense.

at summer camp we will now and then see a troop that is full uniform (most in this area are shirt only) and I do have to say they look sharp and I wish my son's troop was full uniform as it does look good. but then I also remember the days of going straight from football or soccer practice and pulling off pads and just throwing on the shirt... having to change pants would've required a pop into the bathroom and made him late. and we still have some that do that in his troop.

I'd like to see my son's troop do as my son does with the 3 biggies of SMC, BOR, and CoH. and I wouldn't care if they were BSA or just another brand that are same color as I know the price and growing boys can be a factor for many.

only thing I have is one of those crank powered radio/flashlight deal. I find it easier to tune in to a radio station than to find the right programing for weather radio. we don't live in mountains so never had issue of not getting radio station. and with the crank we may have to take turns keeping it powered up, but don't have to worry about batteries failing us

not sure if anyone has answered while I was figuring it out... but I'm not refreshing to check...

if campsite 1 is northern most and 5 is southernmost then...

campsite 4 which is mule deer with troop 764. SM drinks dt. coke allows bullying too much and sleeps in the kelty backpacking tent.

and if they have the dt. coke then I'm THERE!!! LOL

ok I'm going to take this beyond "boy's will be boy's" or any of the "should I do general talk with troop or talk with parents"

this can actually be viewed as a youth protection issue. while many of you may be saying this is just a young teen bragging about what he has been able to find online, it can also be seen as an older boy getting younger boys to view porn. And often getting a boy to do something "secret" or introducing them into beginning stages of sexual understanding is part of the grooming process. (and if you don't know what grooming is - look it up with reference to abuse) And while some of you may think that would be the case if it were some adult doing this, but there really is no difference. A child can be abused by anyone at any age, and by a person of any age.

Now I'm not saying that this IS what is going on! I'm not even 100% sure that it is something that needs reported to the police! But it is something that I would want to chat with person from the council about before I did anything.

we've had chili cook offs or just general cook offs - where they have all scouts and scouters vote. not all adults sign up to compete though - normally 1 per troop does it.

my son's troop will usually use a cabin during the winter at summer campground. normally do this shortly after cross-over before the new scouts have had winter survival training which the troop requires before winter tenting.

they also use one of the non summercamp campgrounds about once a year.

we have several campgrounds that are owned by our council, use to have 2 summer camp programs out of those, but we are down to 1 now. Not sure how far we'd have to go for a different camp, but we are happy with this one.

we have dining hall, swimming pool with boy showers there and I'm told they have flush toilets there, seperate adult showers with flush toilets, campsites have latrines, bring your own tents or use the canvas wall tents (we prefer those), camp provides either a rain fly or roof structure depending on your site, fishing lake, boating lake, climbing tower, shooting range, archary range, lots of trails, many different work areas for spreading out mb classes. we also have a scoutmaster lodge where leaders can charge phones and use internet for those that have to keep in a little contact with work. Oh yeah and a trading post - boys love the trading post!

I've not sure what all they have on the other side of the campgrounds where the cubs are, but I believe they built some cabin areas and have some tent areas.

the one thing we learned with the bb gun station was that they were teaching aiming with 1 eye and closing the other... took quite a bit to learn that my son couldn't close just 1 eye... so there's a picture of him with me covering his eye with my hand and he finally hit the target. he still has that target up on his wall with the single shot through it - he was so proud.

but now in boy scouts he doesn't want to do the shooting because he still can't close 1 eye at a time and doesn't want to wear a patch.

so at least he still has that 1 target

How does your troop schedule boards of review?

from tenderfoot-first class a scout sends out a message through our message board/email system that he is ready for SMC and that if he passes he'd like a BOR that night if people are able. It's very rare for a boy to not pass a SMC.

for star and life they must go through the Adv. Cord. first as they are the ones with the computer records of dates in positions, merit badges, and such - if that person is at the meeting they can sign off. if not then they need to get an email from them stating that scout has met these requirements. Once all signatures or email is recieved the boy does as the lower levels.

for eagle the boy works with the district person that will attend and contacts the other people he would like to sit on his board on the date and time.

Do these occur at troop meetings or at separate designated times?

usually troop meetings or 30 mins before or after.

Who handles the scheduling?

the boys

Who sits on the boards?

any committee member the boy asks or any committee member that is available, except of course their own parent. Most of the adults that stay at meetings are signed up as committee members if they aren't ASM or SM.

How are BOR members recruited?

CC notices who hangs out at meetings and just sits around in back and recruits them... we have them sit in as an extra adult on a board or two to see how easy it is... then let them know that the training they need is all done online and is very easy - they then take YP and Committee Member training and get registered.

I hemmed my son's boy scout pants the same way. he isn't finished growing at 16 but his waist has pretty much stayed the same for last couple other than when he returned from phimont.

though I figure when he needs more than 1 pair for jamboree that I will get someone to hem them correctly as I'm not the best at sewing.

I have a question...

can a boy scout wear the religious knot that he earned while a cub scout?

I know there is a religious emblem award for boy scouts and may require more work (I don't know a lot about these awards)

so do boys remove the one earned as a cub and not wear the religious award on boy scout uniform until earned while a boy scout?

I was always told the only cub scout award to go on boy scout uniform was the arrow of light award.

so what is correct???

thanks in advance

100% is going too far - I don't know any leader that makes it 100%

but I will say that my son's SM has been gone more the last year or so than he's been there, and it has caused some issues. Until just recently he didn't want ASM's to do SMC or sign off blue cards, so when he would make it he'd get swamped by boys with cards and needing SMC's. Now that he's allowed an ASM to do those when he is gone it has helped some.

so I guess it would depend on what you expect the SM to do and not the ASM... because if there are things like then - then I'd go for SM that is around more and let the other be a very good ASM.

we have patrol totes with dishes and utensils - each tote is marked by patrol name and on inside lid lists number of each item... about 2 or 3 times a year the troop has part of a meeting where the patrols go through and recount everything and make sure everything is totally clean (they do good with washing dishes, but sometimes need to wash the tote)

as for tents they are not done by patrol as we have a couple different size tents and patrol needs for tent vary each campout. but the way the troop packs up is all personal gear is removed from tents, they are swept out, and the QM's approve the cleaning before they are put away. If tents are needed to take home to dry out the inside is still checked. the QM records who is taking home tents and just marks them off as they are returned. as for tent stakes - we keep them in a stake box rather than with the tents... we have more than they need and they know how many each tent requires so they grab them and return them at the end. never had any lost, but have had some of the cheaper ones break.

the other important thing is the QM keeps a log book for anything that is broken, damaged, or needs replaced... they then turn that into the adult QM and work together to fix or replace what is needed.

qwaze - the only thing different between my son's troop and my daughter's troop is the number of times they camp. My girls prefer to camp only 3 times a year, which is fine as it's their choice but other than that there is no difference what's so ever.

my girls show up at my house and load up the gear. they are split into 2 patrols for cooking. they plan out their menu, their chores, the activities, etc... when they arrive they sent up dining fly if needed first, then leaders tent and they set up the tents they will be using. their menu gets approved by the adults going as we will eat from both patrols as it's just me and 1 other parent going.

so other than number of times camping... the only difference is where gear is stored, putting up leaders tent, and cooking for the leaders. everything else is the same.

my girl scouts are grades 6th-12th so they are the same age as boy scouts... and at this age this is how it should be. at younger ages (cubby aged) there was some more adult assistance, but now they don't need us other than for making parents at ease that their daughters are going out camping together.

please don't bash girl scouts!!!

as a leader in both I personally don't appreciate it.

even got the boys in my son's troop to stop refering to lighter fluid as "girl scout water" when on parent night one of the boys said that to my daughter and she laughed and said "what is that stuff, we don't even pack it let alone use it - guess we're better at camping and lighting fires than you all" LOL I was so proud!!! and the boys have learned how to light charcoal without it as well!!!

as for the O/P...

my son's troop there is a cook and assistant cook... if the cook backs out then he still needs to get the food to load up or to the assistant. and then assistant becomes cook and he picks his assistant. sometimes though the assistant is a fairly new scout and isn't prepared to be a cook and then an older scout steps up and takes on cooking and helps the assistant.

it also really depends on the boy... my son has (still at 16) terrible small motor skills. was always fun going to parent/teacher conferences asking "other than his handwriting what does he need to work on?" so all through those grades using a saw of any sort was out of the question... we were just impressed when he would sit down and be able to draw out what he wanted his care to look like - and those took several drafts. then he would take his block and his drawing to his uncles and learn how to cut, but it was his uncle doing the cutting. the sanding and painting were handed off to my son. so even if he left his uncles with a perfectly cut car doesn't mean it turned out perfect. but he learned... he had fun... and that was the point. we pushed his abilities past their limits, but not so much that he would be in danger of hurting himself.

worst I saw was a boy whose parent's were seperated and he was waiting at weigh ins for his dad and wanted to see what his car looked liked - the boy did nothing with it but turn it in.

if you do an award for design I think it's important for the judges to know which are obviously parent made rather than boy made. and also for judges to let boys know ahead of time how they will be judging. for years we had judges that went with originality, but then 1 year we had a judge that went with ones that looked most like an actual car which really threw off those boys that went with off the wall ideas.

personally I think plain noodles would've been better than putting ketchup on them

another one I've see the boys cook before is cooking up egg noodles and adding frozen vegetables making it a bit of a soup... it is much better with chicken broth, but wasn't terrible without it as I sampled.

one very simple is just cooking penne pasta and using a non-meat sauce... can cook up hamburger or sausage in a seperate pan for those that want to add the meat. or go with an alfredo sauce.

we do the same thing with scrambled omlets - will cook a pan with meat in it and a pan without... just cook up the veggies a bit, add the eggs, and then melt the cheese in.

kebobs are also good - can add meat chunks or just go with the veggies - mushrooms, onions, peppers, carrots, and whatever else you want.

our boys are required to make sure everyone in the patrol is able to eat their meals and has all the food groups covered - so they always have apples, oranges, or bananas and things like carrots or such for munching with the meal which helps a great deal.

my suggestion was similar to Lisabob...

for a few campouts have patrols cook differently...

1 patrol cook "normal meals"

1 patrol cooks vegitarian meals

1 patrol cooks gluten free meals

and next campouts rotate.

have the boys eat whatever they are able to eat - including those that don't eat gluten free try something that is.

meetings prior have them find recipes that fit the kind of meal they have to cook. make it into a patrol cooking challenge... that might make them see that there are things other than mac n cheese to cook for vegatarian meals.

then have the patrol meetings have all the boys discuss how they thing meals should be handled in future - then PL discuss it into PLC and see what they think is best way to go from there. would be interesting to see what they think is best way to go.

I'm the adult QM for my son's troop.

my job - pick up and pay for the equipment the youth quartermasters have picked out and gotten approved, and then get reembursed by the treasurer. I advise boys that have never been QM before. And on campouts where the trailer is getting taken then I make sure we have someone that will pull the trailer. if I'm not attending the campout I make sure to get the keys to the trailer to someone that is going - we use to have the QM boys have the keys but had issues with losing keys so adults hold keys and just unlock trailer and then the rest is up to the QM.

one troop rule that has helped is that only boys allowed in trailer are SPL, ASPL, and QM's has kept down too many people in trailer bumping into people and breaking things, and things getting missplaced.

I currently have 3... will eventually have 5.

of the ones I have now -

1 on my upper arm is a peace sign inside a heart stands for peace is found within love.

2 is on other upper arm it is a wrap around bracelet with a rose on it and then 2 hearts hanging down with the first letter of each kids names in them

3 is on an ankle and is butterfly wings around the AA symbol which I got when I was 15 years clean and sober which meant I was then sober longer than I drank if going from beginning to end.

of the ones I'm going to get...

I will be getting a koi fish on the other ankle it has some personal meaning to me

the other will be matching tattoos with my husband for our 20th wedding anniversary... will be his first though he's always wanted another tattoo as well so this might get him off him duff and get it too.

I like tattoos because it's a way to express yourself - for me the key is to keep them placed somewhere that I can keep them covered when I need to and can show them when I want to. When I'm in full BSA uniform you cannot see any of them - even if I'm in shorts because I will wear longer socks to cover the ankle tattoo. The only time I have no chance of covereing them is in swimsuit.

my husband and I had a conversation with our kids that they would be allowed to cuss once they got older and learned when it was appropriate and when it wasn't.

I believe our son was about 5 at the time.

I cussed a lot partly because one of the things I did was worked as a volunteer at a treatment center facilitating an after care group that was for women that came out of prison. So my kids had heard all the words and knew not to use them.

But about a day after our little conversation my husband and I were working in the bathroom trying to fix the toilet and our son walks by and says "what the he double hockey sticks is going on in there" after my husband and I quit laughing our behinds off we sat down and had another chat - yes completely appropriate word and timing, but you need to learn when it's not appropriate before you can use it when it is appropriate.

he's now 16 and she's 18... they've learned when it's appropriate and not. still weird to hear them curse, but they only get punished if they use it when it's not appropriate which they have never done. so I guess they learned.

we had a bad time with them a couple summer camps ago... the sprays would only keep them away for 1/2 hour or so. the best thing we found was a nice smokey fire. was also a lot of fun having all the boys hang around together chatting and working on different things for badges and ranks.