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jamist649

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Everything posted by jamist649

  1. qwazse: You hit the nail squarely on the head. I often found myself as referee between our extremely outspoken (yet very thin skinned) SM and parents who want to complain but didn't have the fortitude to deal with him. He was genuinely puzzled the other day when I told him I was stepping down. He had/has no idea the flack that I "screen" for him. The parents who want to complain but will blow my phone up while he rests comfortably at home.
  2. Thank you for your replies. It's been a very difficult week, I have almost broke down a couple of time and called the SM to let him know I'm going camping...but I didn't. I HAVE TO break away. To answer a few questions and comments: SST3rd: We have NO PLC! That's the problem. We have an SPL, and ASPL, SPLs, and every other position but they do not meet. The PARENTS can't get together on when would be a convenient time for them to meet (most of ours kids are not driving age). Most business is handled inside the meeting. This is something that needs to be worked on. Jblake47: I have tr
  3. Several months back, I wrote about my problem of being the "long ranger" in adult leadership in my son's Troop. I signed on as the ONLY ASM (we only have 5 kids at the time) back in 2012. Long story short, we're now MUCH larger (20+ Scouts) with only one (1) additional leader. Over the past few months, we have begged the parents for help with everything from advancement, fundraising, help at camps, and a myriad of other issues. We got plenty of "I'll do all I can to help you, BUT...", but those promises of help either never happened or were severely lacking. I held on for months, literall
  4. Has it been this long?! Wow...**UPDATE** Well, not MUCH has changed but I do have a little bit of good news to report. The Troop, which started in 2012 with 5 boys, is now up to 18. The "new" parents have been a bit more supportive but I still find myself wearing several "hats" as our committee is mostly a committee in name only. One of the new parents just happened to come to us from another local Troop where he wasn't happy with the lack of activity and the (what he felt was) too strict advancement policies. This new parent signed on as our 2nd ASM (I was/am the 1st). He is awesom
  5. Thanks for the suggestions. I LOVE the idea of a "leave of absence". I hadn't thought about that. I genuinely COULD use the time for the new job, home, etc. Our Troop is good-sized for our area (soon to be 13 boys) so to be sure SOMEBODY will step up. If not...well, I don't know. That's what I'm afraid of, my Son is the reason I'm doing this anyway and if the Troop folds I'm going to feel like I destroyed one of his prized possessions, for my own benefit. Darn, this is hard...
  6. I signed on as Cubmaster when my son was a Bear back in 2009. Since then, we grew the Pack to the largest levels it had seen in quite some time, followed by a membership and activity boost in the Troop that he went to (I signed on as the ONLY ASM when he crossed over). It's now 2014, he's a recently promoted "Star" Scout who LOVES the program. I, on the other hand, have had a very tough year. Job loss and change, lost out home and now just getting back into a new one, family trouble, and a myriad of other issues that I finally have overcome and finally getting back on my feet over. During
  7. Thank you so much for all of the replies. I do plan on going in and observing for a while, but there are a couple of variables that I left out that may make a difference: -The Troop is about 2 years old. Brand new. The primary reason that brought me to this unit was the geographical location. It pulls from an upper-middle class, families-with-children saturated area that had previously gone in all different directions with other area Troops. About 4 years ago the Cubs started a Pack here and it is THRIVING. Lots of family support, strong committee, and very active. I was hoping to
  8. Good Afternoon: I posted earlier about switching Troops with my son due to inactivity, disorganization, and no program. We have since followed your advice and notified the parents. So far, I have two who said they are definetly going with us and one who is a "maybe". But...given that that is 3 our of the only 5 that are active, I'm thinking my "maybe" will be right along. Switching gears, I agreed to be ASM since there is a need and a vacancy and I'm really excited to be back in a leadership role and working directly with the boys. I was CM for 3 years and have that program dow
  9. The 6 badges weren't all from Summer camp but I think 3 or 4 of them were. But no: no cards, no badges, no nothing. The boys are frustrated, the parents are asking when in the world are the boys going to get the badges they earned, etc. Heck, we can't even get the CC to enter into a dialogue about the color of a darn neckerchief for our Troop so who was the Troop walking in the Memorial Day parade with no neckerchief?? Yep. Like a boss. I hate to sound smug, but when I ran the Cubs, we were one of the most active and organized in the district. I had inklings that the Troop wasn't up to
  10. Long story short (or at least I'll try): 5 years in Cubs, I was CM for 3 of those. Great experience, good parents, minor bumps in the road, but nothing major. Crossed over in February of this year during an elaborate briding ceremony complete with fire, homemade bridge that the boys made, music, loads of parents/family, and a delicious meal. Outstanding end to Cubs complete with the entire Den earning AoL which made (literally) tears come to my eyes when I was asked to speak at the end of the ceremony before handing the Pack over to the new CM. Fast forward to now: Our Den (now Pat
  11. It's been a tough year, and we haven't really even started. Not to whine, complain, or anything else..but I'm tired. I had gotten to the point over this past weekend to drop the whole Pack, pull my son out and move to another unit. But then tonight happened. I went to an Eagle Scout Court of Honor. My first, my son's first. It was a small ceremony. Maybe 30-40 family members and friends. But it was just what I needed to see. It made me forget about the budget, the calendar, the leaders, the fussy parents, the overwhelming demands of life OUTSIDE of Scouts, and everything else tha
  12. It hasn't been mentioned in our Council...and I hope it doens't. Kindergarten boys are just too young, it's hard enough to get the Tigers where they need to be.
  13. I agree with Scoutfish. I am in that very same situation. EVERY TIME I have tried to delegate, it hasn't gotten done. A couple of months ago, I decided I would delegate ONE SIMPLE event to a couple of parents in the Pack. Event was to begin at 10AM, I start getting calls at 9:30AM the MORNING OF THE EVENT. "Hey, where are we meeting?" "What's going on?" "I haven't heard from (insert name here)!" Never again, I'll handle it myself.
  14. It's easy to get into "One Man Show" mode. It's so easy just to say "Heck, with it..I'll do it myself" instead of calling and hearing a dozen sob stories about how they are "so busy" right now and don't think they can handle... I have ran our Pack almost singlehandedly (with my wife's help) for over 2 years now. I have an assistant CM who does help, but he is more of a "Pick this up, move it here, and hold this end.." kind of guy. All Pack planning, finance, recruting, etc is done my ME. My CC is pretty much just a "figure". My DLs do a decent job but they rely (IMHO) TOO MUCH on the PAC
  15. Shortridge, I know you just did not call me a bigot. I hope I'm reading that wrong. Please elaborate...
  16. Thanks for your replies. I'm not going to allow myself to be irritated by the misconeptions about my motives. Just as I would never single out a black/white/hispanic child becuase he has "something to offer" I certainly won't do it with this one. I never said I wanted this family to act as an educational tool, I simply wanted ideas as to how to intergrate them into the Pack...and if-at the same time-we learn that there is nothing to fear about dark skinned people who pray 5 times a day on a prayer mat, then so be it. Good Lord, I love this forum, but some of ya'll had rather argue than eat
  17. I still don't get it. Why not embrace the fact that we have someone in the Pack that may teach us a thing or two that we wouldn't have known before. We also have a boy who is a second generation Mexican immmigrant. He VOLUNTARILY did a presentation on Mexico, Mexican traditions, dance, food, etc...I guess that was "offensive" too. We all came away from his presention with a deeper understanding of Mexican immigrants and maybe we changed a few minds from "shiftless, drunks that take Americans' jobs..." to "Hard working folks looking for a better life...just like our Ancestors were" God for
  18. Oh good grief! "Offensive"? Please. Here's offensive: "I don't want no dang Muslims in our Pack cuz he's liable to blow himself up in his tent while we're camping one night!" TRUE STATEMENT from one of my parents. Thanks goodness, those feelings are in the minority in our group...but it's there. THAT'S what I'm dealing with...I'm not going to parade him in front of the group and say "tell us all about your religion" but hopefully the group can realize through casual interaction that all Muslims aren't "bad". I agree with Scoutfish, and have seen the same types of opinions down
  19. Thanks so much for the bountiful replies! I have no experience with this, so it's wonderful to see so many have. This family (I think) are converts from Christianity so they probably know what we're going through. This may help.
  20. Does anyone have any experience with a Scout who is Muslim? I have had an inquiry from a Muslim family and I told them they are welcome...but-privately-I have some questions as to how to handle this. Does he promise to do his "duty to God" or can he modify (will he want to) do "duty to Allah"? Are there any special regligious concerns that I should know about? I'm thinking prayers, times, customs, etc. I have no experience with the Muslim faith but I'm kind of excited to welcome this family as it will bring a new facet to our Pack and hopefully do alot to show that not all Muslims are
  21. We signed up 7 new Tiger Cubs during our recently held spring roundup. They all came to our Pack Meeting Saturday where I took the first few minutes and let the Dens do Den "Stuff" and I took the newbies in the back and gave them the "welcome, here's what ya need to know..." speech. I have not decided on a Den Leader yet, so I told them I would be meeting with them again (probably this coming weekend) as a DEN to let them earn immediate recognition, bobcat, etc. My question is this: While I am talking to the parents, getting health forms, answering questions, and trying to accl
  22. You are among friends! This weekend: Pack Meetings Last Weekend: Den Meeting(s) Weekend before that: Pack Campout Next weekend: Fundraiser the following: Religious Emblem Program the following: Cub Graduation Still working on the schedule... GOTTA GO! :-)
  23. "I'd like to see this problem remedied before this Pack is allowed to run another Derby.." "ALLOWED"?! Please... As a Cubmaster in my 3rd year with my Pack who has volunteered hours upon hours and hundreds of my own dollars to run the program...I KNOW what I'd tell you. BUT, there are ladies present.
  24. "I'd like to see this problem remedied before this Pack is allowed to run another Derby.." "ALLOWED"?! Please... As a Cubmaster in my 3rd year with my Pack who has volunteered hours upon hours and hundreds of my own dollars to run the program...I KNOW what I'd tell you. BUT, there are ladies present.
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