AnniePoo

I hear you, gwd-scouter, about being tired. I too have a chronic illness, and both the illness and meds cause fatigue. Not everyone understands how the profound fatigue associated with many chronic illnesses can affect you. I tend to crash in the late afternoon and evening, so I am generally fine at work. I do scouting stuff as I can, and don't beat myself up if because of the illness I can't stay on my schedule to get scouting stuff done when I want to. I've also learned to say No to recruiting efforts from other volunteer groups in town. I won't take a leadership or committee p

For Cubs, another option is to strip the bark off, let dry a couple of months, then trim the ends and sand. Then let the kids paint with acrylic paint, which comes in little bottles in hundreds of colors. My daughter painted one of hers pink and black, and my son is doing one of his in camoflage colors. I painted a couple of them to look like snakes after shaping heads at one end with a rotary tool. After painting, apply 3 coats of polyurethane.

You're essentially the administrator of the troop.

(1) Be realistic about your goals in scouting, both long-term and short-term (2) Ask for help (3) Don't expect to be perfect (4) Don't worry about making a fool of yourself in front of the kids. (5) Laugh! (6) Praise in public, criticize in private (7) If you are angry/annoyed about something a parent or other leader has done or said, don't respond until the next day when you've cooled off a bit. (8) Be professional in your communications with parents and Scouters. (9) Learn lots of good songs & jokes about boogers & farts (10) When explaining something to

Oldhat - you have some good points. I think it's important for senior leaders in the to "mentor" the new leaders, and to really give them significant guidance. I'm planning on staying on as CC for a couple of years after my son crosses over to BS, which will happen next year, and because I won't also be a den leader at that point, I hope to be able to help out more with our newer leaders.

Making tie slides wasn't my "thing" as a Tiger leader, but we had a former Tiger leader who had his den make them every month (very successfully) with a system similar to that described by kari_cardi. Didn't cost much, and an adult handled the hot glue gun. Anything the kids couldn't cut with safety scissors was cut ahead of time by the DL.

My experience is only in Cub Scouts, but following are reasons why I've seen leaders quit: (1) Tiger/Wolf den leaders ---Lack of information & support from senior pack leadership. (2) Legitimate health reasons (3) Feeling unappreciated and/or your opinion does not matter.

Three most important criteria: (1) lightweight (2) filling (3) not vomit-inducing

Our treasurer has to write a LOT of checks for things like reimbursement to leaders for supplies, etc., payment for fees, etc. It would be extremely difficult if we required committee approval prior to her sending out payment for these types of things. Thus, we discuss major expenses, proposed expenditures that are out of the ordinary, etc. at committee meetings. However, the treasurer is required to keep extremely good records, and provides info about our accounts typically monthly. We also meet to go over the budget once a year in the summer to review the prior year and put together a te

Thanks for the help so far. Thought I'd add a little more info.... I'm CC and also assistant den leader (and camping coordinator) for the Webelos den. This kid isn't perfect, tends to get into dangerous stuff (possibly a little OCD going on), and the other parents and I keep a pretty close eye on him. His mom comes to all of the campouts also. However, of all the scout stuff, he LOVES to go camping, and it's really the only thing that will keep in scouting long-term. I haven't found out yet what the situation is with the new pack, and am going to really try to make sure his parents f

We have a Webelos scout in our pack who has recently moved and will be transferring to a different pack in a nearby district (same council) after the school year is done. He will start participating in some of the other pack's summertime activities. However, he's really into camping and would like to come to one or two of our (current pack's) weekend Webelos campouts. I think that other than summer resident Webelos camp, the new pack doesn't do much camping. Do I need to get any special type of approval to have him come with us this summer?

Our pack has an (unwritten) policy that major proposed expenditures be discussed at a pack committee meeting prior to purchase. This also gives us time to review the budget to ensure that sufficient funds are there. We've discussed buying an enclosed trailer in the future, but it's a significant cost and we would likely save for that item specifically over a few years. Prior to purchase of such a large item, my opinion (as CC) is that committee & COR approval would have to be unanimous. Although perhaps it is not required, I feel that the pack budget should be transparent and pack

I was a Brownie for two weeks, then quit because it was really boring and I thought paying dues (quarter a week) was a ripoff. And I was a tomboy and didn't want to wear the little skirts.

" mom's tend to try to prevent problems and men tend to pick up the pieces after the fact" I certainly agree with this.

OOhhhh, ya got me, too. Good one.

Oops - computer problems. How the heck do I delete a post if my computer burps and sends a post three times.(This message has been edited by AnniePoo)

(This message has been edited by AnniePoo)

Anyone from National listening?--A requirement like this WILL cause our pack to lose existing leaders next year, and will make it horribly difficult to recruit new ones. I guess only skinny rich people are allowed to be scout leaders.(This message has been edited by AnniePoo)

Tell the parent that he can bring the lightening detector along on campouts. However, he has to purchase it, and HE has to carry it around the entire time during the campout.

This is getting ridiculous. Before this latest increase, a large portion of our CUbs couldn't even afford a shirt.(This message has been edited by AnniePoo)

* What prompted you to become a Cub Scout leader? No one else would volunteer to be the Tiger den leader, so another parent volunteered me. * Did you find it difficult to integrate your Cub Scout duties with your other day-to day activities and responsibilities? Sometimes, especially in the first year, but it gets much easier in subsequent years. * What are some of the things you find/found satisfying about being/having been a Cub Scout leader? Smiling kids who tell you they had fun and give you a hug when they see you. Seeing kids experience something they've neve

Water bottle rocket launchers (the kind that uses manual bike pumps to pressurize).

It's probably worth a call to the council office to see if you are "officially" committee chair, although I don't see how you could be without having signed a new leader application.

It's probably worth a call to the council office to see if you are "officially" committee chair, although I don't see how you could be without having signed a new leader application.

As others mentioned, you, as committee chair, are essentially the boss of the pack, with only the Chartered Organization Rep above you. You are the administrative/organizational arm of the pack, and can thus work with your committee to set a schedule, budget, etc. A pack committee is typically comprised of the committee chair, den leaders, assistant den leaders and any involved parent helpers that want to be there (we usually invite all parents to come). Technically, the cubmaster is not a member of the committee, but usually comes to the meetings. The committee chair runs the monthly me