Lynda J

At summer camp this year I saw a couple of boys all but exchanging blows. I stepped in and one of them told me to mind my own business. At that point I found their SM and got little response. I then went to the Camp Director, who I attended National Camp School with. He went to the SM and informed him that any further fighting with any boy in his troop the entire troop would be told to leave camp. Seems I wasn't the first one that went to him. Guess what, I found out the troop is from a very wealthy area. I find it astounding how in many cases the higher the income level or the boys th

In two years our troop will do a high adventure trek on horseback. I will not be going. I will take the younger boys to base camp. It isn't that I don't like horses. Grew up raising and showing quarter horses. It is mainly because Kevin needs to do activities without me around. Also because after all those year of getting thrown the old hip and shoulder I don't think would take a week in the saddle. But I think it is important that he move on without me. And hopefully because of me. I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but Kevin is a foster, I got him when he was 4,when his mother was

Of the g/l couples that I person know, that have raised children. None have raised kids that are homosexual. Have a customer that has boys 10 months apart in age. One is gay one is not. The one boy that is gay was very feminine from the age of 1. Both boys were raised the same. At age 7 this boy told his mother that "I think I am a girl". At that point he had had no exposure to the gay lifestyle. These are great kids and wonderful parents. So setting the example of a gay relationship isn't going to cut it for me as far as gay parents producing gay kids. And as far as making a choi

Not going this year but maybe the next time. But all you guys HAVE A GREAT AND SAFE TIME>

Several years ago when I was with the pack we had this problem. I talked to our COR about the money thing. He suggested that he ask for an audit of the books. I honestly didn't think there was anything wrong just that we could never get a treasurers report. It had been 2 years. They ask for an audit and she had to produce all the bank statements. There was nothing wrong but after that the COR told us that they wanted a copy of the bank statement each month. It got her on her toes and we got not only a break down each month but she went over the bank statement with us then gave a copy

I am always astounded when a boy go off to JLTC and the parents think they are going to come back a different person. That they will suddenly be this great leader. It isn't that simply. It is a growing process. As he gets comfortable with his new learned skills he will start using them. Our last two boys that went to JLT didn't come instantly great leaders. In fact I had decided it had been a waste. Then suddenly we started seeing small changes in them. It simply takes time for them to start using those tools.

Boy I'm getting ready to stick my foot in it. God created all things in the heavens and on the earth. Right? So that means that he also created homosexuals. I seem to also remember a saying. "Judge not lest ye be judged" I accept people on a one on one basis. If they are honest, giving, fair, and good I accept them. It does not matter to me the color of their skin, language they speak, their belief is what ever higher being or their sexual partner. This is what I was taught by my parents. And as far as I am concerned they were two of the greatest people on this earth

Had a kid like this in my Wolf den. I knew he hadn't done half of them. So I decided that since he had finished a couple of the loops and pens that the other boys hadn't earned that I would let him "help" the other boys earn theirs. Guess what. He didn't know the simplest part of the loops. I invited his mother to come to the meeting that night. According to her he had "just finished" the astromony loop. She and I went outside and talked. I explained that we have to teach our children to be truthful. I also explained that it was important for him to understand what he was learning a

I grew up in a troop with my mother as the scout leader. Was I expected to set a higher standard than some of the other girls. Dang right I was. And I knew it. I also knew that I wasn't going to get away with anythings. Did I resent it. Sometimes. Do I expect more of Kevin than I do other boys in the troop. Yes. One because I know more what he is able to do. And two because his behavour reflects on me. Our SM has one son that I could kill sometimes. I have seldom met a kid that shows less respect to adults than he does. You will tell him to stop something and he will look

We will have to wait until Terry can back check the ISP.

In our troop we don't sign off on our own childs rank advancement. We all agreed to this. It just looks better to me. Less chance for someone to complain along the way. As far as merit badges. I do counsel Kevin. In fact he is working at the shop this summer and working on Auto Mechanics. He has it almost finished. Right now he is removing the radiator on a Mercedes 300E.

I ask in the original post. Was this dinner catered. Was there servers that set up the tables and served the meal. If that is the cast I can almost bet that the cars were thrown out. Had this happen several years ago with a car club Iam a member of. We had displayed material that our national office sent to us. We wanted to keep it. The people that catered the dinner simply took the throw away table cloths and scooped them up with everything inside and dumped them. By the time we realized this our material was gone. But I still think that National has a responsibility to at least

Hour. We took our boys bikes with us to camp. It worked out great. Only problem was that we had to do some flat fixing. But we went prepared for that. They have changed the first year program. It is all done in one group. Boys didn't have to go very far this year. All work was done in the area just outside the trading post and them just down t he hill toward archery. I helped with knots and first aid for a couple of days. Sure had fun. Makes me proud to hear that boys enjoyed our camp.

The leaders also have responsibility in this because they did not enforce the buddy system.

Thanks. Longhorn Council and Richardson are my home ground areas. If anyone is wanting to to CTA let me know. I would be more that willing to send you a DVD on the program. Or if you have any questions I would be more than willing to answer them, and if I don't know the answer I will find out. My DE just was moved to the position over all High Adventure activities at all Council camps.

These programs have nothing to do with scouting other than they are camping out. I have a dear friend that saved her son through one of these programs. He was into drugs physically abusive to her. Ended up in jail at 14. She sent him on one of these and he came back a changed person. That was 8 years ago. He just graduated from college in the upper 10% of his class and he hasn't been in trouble since he came back. I am aware that not all of these programs are the same and they don't work on all kids. But the one she uses has a 97% success rate.

My wonderfully wise Gran had a saying that fits this perfectly. "Your community is like a tree. You are either a leaf that feeds and nurtures it our mistletoe that sucks it dry. Make dang sure you are always a leaf."

MAKE THEM, MAKE THEM, MAKE THEM. We have the each patrol submit designs. They have numbers and no names. Then the PLC selects three for each patrol. Then the patrol votes on which one they want to use. The winner is them used at the patrol flag and the boys also put it on their footlockers that we use for camping. We also encourage them to put their patrol design on other things, like their back packs, water bottles, a couple of the boys even put it on their sleeping bags. One patrol made small flags to hang from their tents. But what ever you do make it fun.

GUIDE TO SAFE SCOUTING YOU HAVE TO GET THIS GUY EITHER TRAINED OR OUT. Only options. You have to accept that if a child gets injured and it is through his negligence that it will be you and the Charter Org that could be sued. THey do not sue BSA. You are putting yourself, your boys and your Pack in danger each time you allow this guy to do anything unsafe with the boys. If he refuses to get trained then you have no option but to let him go. Would be the same if you knowingly allow boys to ride with a driver that you knew had no drivers license. Remember it is SAFETY FIRST. As f

Sometimes I sure do wish I had ignored myself. But seems I never really do. Just think I do. Is there anyone out there?????

My 4'9" stick of TNT mother was the greatest at this. When a parent would tell her they "didn't have the time to do something she needed done she would very sweetly put her hand on their arm, smile her most endearing smile, look them straight in the eyes and say. "I am so sorry you don't have time to give to your child. Maybe if we check with some of the charity groups we can find someone that can spare an hour or so a week to help your child." Guess what she never didn't get what she wanted. Yes it is harder today. More parents work, more single parent homes. But know something.

A gay couple I have been friends with for almost 40 years, raised two kids. One girl, one boys. Neither are gay. Both are very well adjusted were great students. This couple have been together for 38 years. One had been married before. His wife walked out of him and the kids when the youngest was only 2. These kids couldn't have had better parents, or better role models. They lived next door to my ex and me. Every kid in the neighborhood played there and my kids spent the night there all the time. The other parents knew they were a same sex couple but it didn't really matter. We acce

Another thing to take camping with you that I have discovered as a great tool. Field books on birds, bugs, weather, rocks, trees, stars. Books of camp tales. what ever you can find at resale book stores. I take this every camping trip, I simply set it out on table where the boys can get to it. There isn't a trip that the boys don't get into it. At summer camp this year when they had short breaks you would find them sitting around looking through the books trying to figure out what bird they had seen. What type of lizard had been on what type of tree. I also stick in my telescope. It i

We didn't exactly ban hotdogs in Cubs but we did have a policy that the boys couldn't cook them every outing. This led to boys trying other things. They discovered that foil cooking was fun and they could junk up their hamburger patty or chicken leg anyway they wanted to. Now in the troop our policy is that they can't cook the same thing two camping trips in a row except for breakfast. Funny thing is that they are also expermenting there. Last outing they did eggs in orange halves, with a strip of bacon across the top. They do all kinds of cooking methods. Box over, Cajun Microwave.

Check resale shops in your area. I have been lucky in picking up pants and shorts for both myself and Kevin. Got him three pair of shorts in May for about $4.00 each. My last pants were $6.00,and they looked like they had never been worn.