Laurie

I sew by hand, and for pockets, I place a piece of heavy paper in the pocket to help keep stray stitches from going through the pocket. Using a matching thread (BSA has a sewing kit w/the perfect colors) or clear nylon thread keeps the insignia looking nice--the thread is barely noticed. It just takes a little extra effort and a thimble (This message has been edited by Laurie)

Yes, Eamonn. Seven is the norm for Wolf Cubs. Eight for Bear Cubs. Nine for first-year Webelos, with some turning 10 in that second year prior to bridging and some turning 10 after bridging. I have one of each, and it all depends upon when their birthdays fall.

1) What type of scouting unit is it? Pack. 2) Do you feel you have a well functioning committee? No. 3) How many memebers are on it and what are their specific assignments? 4 MCs total with specific assignments a tough area--currently only PWD & B&G Banquet assigned to MCs. = = = And the other unit I serve: = = = = = 1) What type of scouting unit is it? Troop. I>2) Do you feel you have a well functioning committee? Yes. I went to the first meeting tonight, having recently transferred my membership from one troop to another, and serve as MC. Great team

I have been accused falsely of something. Thankfully, for whatever reasons (I'm surprised at this), the CR, UC, and DE all blew off the accusation, knowing it was not true. However, I learned that by calling the CR first, then the UC for advice on how to proceed in the best interests of the unit with the gossip that had begun, and then the DE because the DE's name was involved by the accuser. The person making the accusation was also confronted by me--directly and immediately. That person is no longer part of the unit, nor will that person be welcomed back. Thankfully the accusation, thou

It was a beautiful morning, and I was sitting in the livingroom rocking our daughter and giving her a bottle while watching the news. Just as my husband returned from dropping the boys off at school, the first plane hit. I knew--I don't know how I knew--that this was not an accident. I was stunned and couldn't take my eyes off the tv, waiting to hear and hoping to hear that I was wrong--that somehow it might be an accident. The feelings that began to hit were such a jumble--shock, anger, helplessness, fear--and I began to run names through my head of who I might know that I should get in t

I went through this with my own son as a toddler, as he saw some things taking place, and they did tend to come down to blue doing one thing and green doing another. A gentle reminder that all people are equal and that we each need to do our very best at what we do helped, but it was almost daily, at home, gentle, and bit by bit chipped away at some false beliefs he was developing. What you are attempting to do is not easy, but I think you are on the right track too and agree with the others--involve his parents. As a den leader, try to encourage him not to think of the others, blue or gree

I'm sorry, but I don't follow the fundraising of this. Having just worked on the budget and practically knowing the numbers by heart, council isn't making money on what is being charged. Has the council called it a fundraiser? The only thing I would object to is the Boys Life subscription, but that is because we promote it but treat it as optional. I love the idea of the boys getting things!

JD, no apology necessary. This kind of conversation shows various views of how people see women in leadership. foto, I won't elaborate, but it is not a unit nearby that is a problem to us but individuals who don't play nice, and we don't even consider them when recruiting. Maybe we should?? What I do know is that people in public who have seen me in uniform have made it clear that they just can't believe the BSA would do a crazy thing like let a woman lead. I figure that can hurt recruiting and that we can do something about it. Like have the CR/CC and UC and DE promote the uni

Unc, thanks. I was just getting ready to try to bring us back to the original issue too which was: My question is this: how do you think the public views a unit with mostly women in leadership? Is this unique to us, or is it pretty common? I agree that men working with boys is not just good, but is also very important. My goal was to find out if so many women in leadership of one unit hurts the perception by the public of the unit. I know that we can and have delivered a strong program which now is simply in need of recruiting more youth--but the public doesn't know this, so they

Thanks for the discussion! You've given me some insight I didn't have before as well as plenty of reassurance. I do think that locally this may be a problem (I honestly cannot tell you the number of negative comments I've heard, even from Scouters), but I think our leaders are awesome, the program is strong, and so with your feedback I do feel more confident in this area now.

Oh, that is so frustrating! I received info to add the 75th logo to everything, to promote it, and to plan for it for the time frame of Sept 04 through Dec 05. So I did, and I've been none too patiently waiting on info. As for the outdoor award, on an e-mail list a post from Nat'l indicated that the requirements were to be released late in August. So hopefully any day now.

Well said Bob, and I'll add to that if I may be so bold: during the waiting, the Scout has a chance to learn skills that will make the trip far better than if he were to go now. Safety makes fun even more fun!

It sounds to me as though you handled the situation well. I know of a Troop X that allows all boys, regardless of age, to go on this type of trip: rappelling, whitewater rafting, etc. by planning them itself. My son was in this troop. He asked to go to Troop Z though, and he is happy there, even though only those 14 and older (and he's not yet 14) get to go on the high adventure type trips. The difference between Troop Z and Troop X for him? He wanted consistent program, a chance to take training (Den Chief was his goal and he did it), and functioning patrols. He saw it in action, and th

Eamonn, my husband has the response: who cares what others think, though he couched his comment in slightly less polite terms. I care because we have 9 Webelos and 1 Wolf, and we are recruiting heavily. All feedback received from the boys, the families, and those we have met has been positive--with those who *know* us. When I wear my uniform in public, I've received several snide comments about women in the BSA. Same with another leader in the unit. During a training time, a man kept making terrible comments about women as leaders, and I finally had to respond, and the other men (it was a

Most of the "visible" leadership in the pack is women. Me as CM, 3 women and 1 man as den leaders. The committee is pretty much unknown to the pack, but it is mostly men. What this means is that looking at this pack, it seems to be led by all women. Now, I know that BSA policy is in favor of women in all leadership roles, and I believe women are very capable leaders. I also know that we can't change what we've got because the men didn't want to lead, so the women were asked and did. My question is this: how do you think the public views a unit with mostly women in leadership? Is this u

Wow, that's an interesting problem. We just held a follow-up planning meeting for the pack, and because we could use the DE's help, as CM I sent him the name and contact info for each person handling popcorn, recruiting, etc. Maybe doing this for your DE will help her to know who to contact. Send that sort of info to her regularly since she uses e-mail, and ask her if she has met some leaders that she would identify as particularly good at certain things. What you've done is two things: shown her that you've got the bases covered *and* shown her that you'd appreciate and welcome her input

Our council is holding a training on internet rechartering. The problem with timing is that this is the same day as 3 other council events (one a training) as well as the day of district trainings. Ouch! I'm looking forward to it. Last year is the first year I handled recharter, and the internet will allow--I hope--for an easier way to deliver the recharter. That was a problem last year for the unit, and from what I hear, has been. As for cyber Scouting--I sure hope not! The way I view the internet is that it helps me do in off hours the busy stuff that could interfere with doing fu

Yep, the resources are great. But never ever offer them unless asked for them! We have a nice Scouting library at home now, and it's available for our sons to use anytime. We put the books out of reach of the baby (who seems to use them most!), and then I told the boys they may use them any time, just to please be sure to return them when finished with them. They occassionally get used, but occassionally is better than before when I'd suggest the book and they acted like it would be poisonous to touch. So, having some tools handy that they can choose to use does help at times. Now, a

Thank you for the info. I've been following this thread with the hopes that the Scout was found and well. Prayers are definitely lifted here for him.

This is pretty typical, at least in my experience working with youth from age pre-k through college age. One thing that has become a practice for me is to be involved with what my children are involved in, but not with them directly. I also spoke to my Cub son before accepting the CM position; I asked him how he would feel about that type of involvement from his mom. No problem--he loved it. He also liked that I asked him about it. However, I do not do anything directly with him. As for other leaders who mentioned problems with their sons, I made a suggestion that has worked: have anothe

We've had two unit commissioners, though not at the same time. The first was a great guy, knowledgeable, really great with kids, working in various aspects of leadership in a troop, a pack, and in the district, and he was stretched so thin he truly didn't have time to help us out. I felt really bad for him when I got to know him, but I also knew that we badly needed advice, so it was a tough spot to be in. Then a unit commissioner actually wanted our unit; it's a unit that he lives close to, that he has seen in action many times and felt he could help out. So a change was made. The ne

This past year was pretty exciting to me because the Cubs and their families really liked the items planned for the pack. Everything that was done came as a combination of two things: training and listening to what the Cubs wanted to do. Now, we found out that many of the Cubs love service projects. In 3 months, the families (usually 3-4 Cub & sibling/parent combinations), recorded 80 hours of service time for Good Turn For America in just under 3 months. For a small pack, that's pretty decent IMO. This was spring. Heading into summer, we knew having summer activities would b

Twocubdad, you know I haven't a lot of experience here, but I wonder if you could recruit two more parents to work in the existing den as leaders, let them gain some confidence working with the current leaders, and then have the den divide. Perhaps that would lessen the anxiety? Have the parents been made aware that this size den is not in the best interest of the boys? My guess is that you have, but I'd be curious to hear their objections. We have a small pack. As we approached spring and the normal decline in attendance due to baseball, we decided to try something new. It seemed bri

Summer camp and soda--oh boy, don't get me started on that! My son left for summer camp this year, having had only an occassional soda during the first 12 years of his life. By occassional, he could go a month or longer without having any soda of any kind. He loves water, milk, and juice, and we only keep 100% fruit juice around, figuring we'll get the healthy stuff in where we can. He comes home from summer camp hooked on Mountain Dew. He couldn't get enough of it, and boy did we have trouble getting him to limit it--we were at yet another camp with a vending machine, thus the difficulty

Excellent point EagleinKY. I think we need to teach the Scouts how to handle situations like this too. I am deeply saddened and even angry that I learned of things that youth didn't know how to deal with. This left me, as one hearing it third-hand, unable to do much (though doing nothing was not an option), but it also provided a teachable moment. I have not yet seen the YP for youth; does it address some of what has been discussed here from a youth's point of view?