kari_cardi

I've run into ODD among friends with children who come from the foster system, momto2cubs, and I found this link to be helpful. http://www.aacap.org/cs/resource_center/odd_faqs Googling also produced this PDF, Momleader, which has some good stuff though it is intended for Boy Scouts. http://auroradistrict.org/forms/Scouts%20with%20Special%20Needs.pdf

We have boys with special needs in our troop and our pack, but luckily so far the parents have been involved and there hasn't been anything we couldn't handle.

You are referring to Oppositional Defiance Disorder? I can see that a scout with ODD could be difficult to handle during meetings. Is it better when his parents are present? Then I would ask his parent(s) to stay during meetings.

You are like a prophet, packsaddle!

I used a throwaway email address to 'register' with the free website. I've heard nothing back. The page is hinky too, not all the buttons work. No spam at the email account either, but I am waiting.

shortridge, I love the rings! I bet they did make a nice slide.

I'm sorry, you missed my point.

If you can't understand that parents do not want to spend their time watching a Wood Badge beading ceremony at a CUB SCOUT event with no notice, background or context when they expected to see cute scouts performing skits, then I feel sorry for you, Basementdweller.

I have since been invited to beading ceremonies for friends, and was glad to attend. Though none lasted an hour even with snacks.

We've announced adult knots at pack meetings. We've also announced them at leadership meetings, among the people who understand the significance and lent their support to the award.

Like Basementdweller, I've been the victim of what I consider to be an inappropriate hijacking of my time for an adult award presentation. Mine was a Wood Badge ceremony at a CS twilight camp. Instead of skits and songs on Family Night, we watched as 4 adults danced around, sang songs, and gave weird little bobbles and neckerchiefs to two leaders. I was sure then that it was meaningful to the 6 people involved, but the other 300 of us were clueless as to why.

Interestingly, according to Wikipedia (not the ultimate authority, to be sure) the ribbon would be the epaulette and the shoulder strap that holds the decoration is a 'passant.' It also says that commonly the shoulder strap is called an epaulette, especially if it itself is decorated. So I think the term can apply to either the shoulder strap or the ribbons.

I also think the rules about scout uniforms not imitating military uniforms is splitting hairs, since the reference is clear. We certainly don't walk around looking like tennis players or ballerinas, except for Scoutfish.

Here's an idea! Those who support an open BSA membership policy in regards to sexual orientation can wear rainbow striped epaulettes.

So, SP, do you have a particular recruiting method for Latinos?

Our DE went through and added unit leader information to the pins in our district. He was surprised to find that I had already edit our unit pins, thanks to your previous posts on the topic, SP.

No recruitment results yet, though.

I keep chuckling at the statements that the parents need to trust their scout leaders. Our troop was at summer camp a few weeks ago, the camp had almost no cell reception and poor wifi. A mom of one called the camp office after no news for several days, looking for news. The kicker to the story is that her husband was also at the camp as an ASM with the troop. You would think she would have trust in her son's leader(s), right?

Our troop balances the parental need for updates with the SM's time to give them by having the SM call and give general updates to one person who shares the update with everyone else via phone tree, email or FB as appropriate. The person is usually the SM's spouse but also could be another leader who didn't attend camp. I worry, I expect other parents to worry even if I do trust the scout leaders in charge of my sons. That makes us good, involved parents who care, not problems. The problem comes when that hovering keeps the scout from growing and maturing into a responsible person, and that goes far beyond a parent wanting updates during a week at camp.

I am interested in hearing what you chose, suzisk8. From what I can tell it's all 90s style programming.

I definitely see your point about reducing stress on your family by having everyone attend meetings in the same building on the same night. We have a similar situation with one in the pack, two in the troop, one in a crew (soon to be two) and my dh as SM and I can tell you that since he took the SM role he has had no time during troop meetings to do anything with the pack. He certainly could not be an adult partner with a Tiger. It is one of our regrets in having him assume the SM role, in that my Cub Scout isn't spending the time with his dad that his brothers had. OTOH, if we weren't all in the same building for den, pack and troop meetings, I don't think we could participate in scouting at the level that we do, which is a committment similar to your family.

As far as starting a new troop, I would assume that you have a good relationship with the pack that would share your CO and that this would be your primary recruiting source? Are there parents ready and willing to form a troop committee and be ASMs? If you have to do it all, I don't see an advantage of doing your own thing at this time. Maybe in the future. If you do have the volunteers and scouts to make an insta-troop, then maybe.

You have a lot to consider, best of luck as you make your choices.

That's interesting, Basementdweller. Our troop did not like Wood Trails and won't go back, though I don't know why. Maybe there has been a change in staff or program.

I can give some feedback about Chief Logan, my husband (SM) and boys did a week just last month there.

Pluses:

The merit badge program is flexible in that the scouts can chose what to work on and when. The requirements are cycled through, so if a scout started a badge on Tuesday, he could pick up the material worked through on Monday on Thursday, as an example. The camp uses blue cards to track merit badge work, but only the completed cards were returned to the troop.

There are plenty of non-merit badge activities available, and the older scouts enjoyed the Frontiersman program.

Plenty of food, no one got sick. The nurse worked well with scouts who needed meds.

The staff was very supportive in handling a scout who wigged out during camp, twice.

Minuses:

Definitely falls on the side of a merit badge mill.

The food prep was not always appealing, like toaster waffles that were microwaved and served in plastic bags that were printed with instructions on how to toast them in a toaster.

The much-touted Archeology program was not available this summer nor the first summer my son attended there, but this info wasn't available until after arriving at camp. Supplies for other MBs were not available as well.

The swimming area is small at the lake.

The schedule handed out each day did not include every available activity, so some things were missed by scouts who had hoped to attend them like night hikes.

And I don't know if this is a plus or a minus, but the camp has very poor cell reception but does have good wi-fi.

All three attendees said they would go back without hesitation. My eldest son, who has attended the most camps (our troop rotates through several, chosing a different one each year) said he likes Ransburg in Indiana best.

Woodward, what size pack do you have? I am a member of a smaller pack and planning our pack family campouts is much simpler than some described here. We divvy up responsibilities with different people in charge of activities, food, equipment, sign-ups. Everyone does their part and we have fun camping!

You will want to be sure to have someone who is Baloo-trained, and when scheduling activities the Guide to Safe Scouting is your best resource. We have also started implementing Leave No Trace principals for pack camping. We no longer do big blazing campfires. We have modest fires suitable for a group of scouts to do some stick cooking instead, or build a mound fire if there is no fire ring. Your group could use a mound fire to avoid damage from campfires on your CO's baseball field.

I think it is good to establish expectations and avoid the 'free-for-all' that can result otherwise. We remind parents that they are responsible for their own scout and any siblings during the campout. We remind parents that there is no alcohol,no smoking in front of scouts, etc. Using LNT also helps curb destructive behavior. If your unit has a different culture, though, it will probably take several campouts to change behavior. It certainly did for ours.

Venividi said, >Many are offering possible ways to accomodate this mother to get her son aquanaut activity pin.

My advice is "don't do it". If you are having difficulty with this parent now, you won't make things any better by changing the program that you have planned in order to accomodate her wishes. Demanding people continue to be demanding; if she is successful at getting you to change your program, she will find other changes that she will want you to make.

If your program gets the boys to Arrow of Light without aquanaut, stand by your program. Any suggested changes, put back on that parent to organize - under the condition that ALL the boys in the den are invited to participate, and that it is a reasonable cost for the families.<

I don't understand this point of view. I do understand working with parents who are always pushing the boundaries around awards and that it can be tricky to handle them. But the Webelos program does not have the den work in lockstep to complete all requirements/activity badges/awards together in the den, pack and summer camp. Scouts can work on them at home or other places unless restricted, like the archery and bb gun belt loops. Without evidence that the work was not done, there isn't a reason to deny the award except to perhaps prove a point that doesn't need to be made.

I'm a fan of saying 'yes' if possible, and in this case it does seem possible to say 'yes' to the Aquanaut activity badge.

Another good trick for sticking badges on for sewing - washable glue stick, like the kids use. Put a good amount on the back of the badge, stick it where you want it and let it dry. Then sew. If you sew before it dries, it will slip and also gunk up your needle. But once you are done, regular washing takes care of it so no residue.

I went to a traditional college with only women as resident students. The resident program went co-ed while I was there. The first year there were two men, the next year about 1/6 of the resident students were male. By the end of the second year, the elected student body president and vice-president were male, positions formerly filled by young women. I find this to be a loss to the school and the experience it offered, that allowed young women to stretch and grow in less-expected ways.

But, having said that, I think that such experiences shouldn't be mandated. Choice is good. Not every girl will benefit from a sex-segregated program, nor will every boy.

My technique, refined by experience:

1. Thread sewing machine with clear nylon thread on top and uniform-matching thread in the bobbin.

2. Set the machine to a zig-zag stitch, I use one that is 2mm by 2mm. Zig-zag stitches are easier to rip out if the patch needs to be removed later, and it seems like they always do. Zig-zag is also easier to control around curves and it will hold down the edges of weirdly-shaped participation patches.

3. Spray the patch with temporary adhesive and stick it in place. This stuff is awesome and evaporates away in a short amount of time, no residue or discoloration.

4. Sew around the edge of the patch, with the zig on the inside of the raised stitching on the edge of the patch and the zag falling off the edge of the patch. Overlap the start and end stitches by a few. Trim threads.

5. An extra hint - sew together unit numbers with the zig-zag first, then sew the whole thing to the uniform. The number patches may need a little trimming for good alignment.

I am teaching my sons to sew on their own patches by hand. It requires a sturdy needle and thread to match the uniform looks best, IMO, as you can use stitches that barely show on the right side. I teach them to bring the needle up to the right side, catch a little bit of the satin stitch border, and poke the needle down again just a little ways from the entry point. Repeat all the way around. No need to go through the plastic backing.

I don't think Tigers have the dexterity to sew their own patches. Few parents sew well enough. It seems like Grandma usually does the patches. We have brought in sewing machines and offered patch sewing services with good success. I've offered to teach the whole troop how to sew on patches but there is no interest.

Wrong or right, what SP suggested doesn't seem that different to me than the new boy I signed off of as unit leader so he could attend day camp with his friend. His parents have no intention of being involved in scouting except for that day camp, it was a child care issue. I felt it was misleading for the camp to advertise that any boy could attend without also stating that boys who attended would be registered with BSA.

Also, moosetracker, I home school and like most home school parents I sign my sons up for all sorts of activities like art classes, writing classes, sports and scouts. I sign them up for the experience, not for socialization. Socialization best happens naturally, and I think it is a detriment to expect kids to only hang out with other kids their own age. I don't know anyone who doesn't want friends for their kids. I do know parents who want to select friends for their kids, home schooled, public schooled, private schooled, or any other kind of school. Sometimes it's for a good reason, and sometimes it isn't. But it certainly isn't exclusive to home schooled families.

Suzy, good luck in starting your new unit. I hope you find the boys you need.

>>JtE makes no mention of only current training being accepted,and while the national folks said it would only take the current training for the awards, they backed down on that when there was a very loud protest on the topic.

I think the requirements to be 'trained' for JTE are different than trained for re-charter. JTE, if I remember correctly, asks for position-specific training less than 2 years old.

I think every point listed here is a problem to some extent and could be improved, from what I have experienced in our district. I especially agree with Lisabob, as I usually do. Quality of the volunteer leaders is something that I haven't read, and I think it is very important. Lots of leaders are capable of presenting material from the handbook. Few do it in an exciting and boy-friendly way. Those who can engage and inspire scouts have the popular and successful units.

I'm working on pack and troop recruitment right now with my DE to make it more exciting and more representative of what scouting really is. I looked at beascout.org this am and saw the pictures of boys doing things we never do. And I asked myself, 'why?'

So the troop went to summer camp last week. We had medical form drama for one boy, he did get his physical just before the troop left for camp so he was good. Another boy was missing Part C, the camp let him stay with his mother's promise to fax the rest. She couldn't get a fax through despite trying all week, nothing was said. Someone discovered upon the return of the troop that a third boy also didn't have Part C, and no one caught the lack at camp.

So much for 'you can't stay if you don't have your medical form, parts A, B, and C.' No parent will believe us now.

Still, we plan to tighten up procedures on the troop side and try to avoid the mess in the future.

Shorts, shorts, shorts. The local scout culture here favors shorts, I like shorts or skirts myself. I did notice when visiting the PNW recently that everyone wore pants or jeans, almost no shorts. The explanation was apparent when my host apologized for the heat wave they were experiencing, upper 80s with low humidity. I thought the weather was lovely compared to the 98 degree/98% humidity that I had left back home.