Lynda J

The fact that this couple is married isn't really an issue. The fact that they have a son in the unit, isn't an issue. I see the issue here as not enough parent involvement in the unit. If you only have two parents willing to take the boys camping and that is a couple you raised the question of what happened in an emergency. Well if one of the adults has to go home and you only have two adults. Guess what. THE BOYS GET TO GO HOME!!!! When we camp our SM and his wife, ASM, share a tent. But we also try to have at least one other adult there. I almost always go and we have two other

I would not want to Unit Commissioner my own Pack or Troop. There may be times, as commissioner, you may have to step on toes and that could cause problems within the Pack. I have been ask to act as commissioner for the pack I just moved out of. They have some big problems and really need some help. But they feed our troop and I don't want to be put in a position of having to get into it with someone and it causing a problem with the troop/pack relationship. My Gran always said. If you try to do to much you won't do anything well. Do what you can and do it well.

We have 4 boys that just crossed over last month. They all wanted to get started on Merit Badges. I recommended that they do Reading since they are actually doing the work in school. One is also doing Pets and two more are doing Dog Care. But like has already been said. Start on ones that interest the boy. Then start with Eagle required. We recommend for each three badges a boy earns one should be Eagle. Kevin has 12 badges as of now, has 4 in the works. 4 of the completed ones are Eagle and two of the pending one are. He is 12 and is working on Star. He also loves the con

I have three Ozark Trail bags called Footwarmer. They have extra batting at the foot level. They are rated to 35. I then put a fleece liner inside in the winter wit a sheet. Have camped in 20 weather and had no problem. Of course I don't get very cold. I haven't even turned on my heater at home this winter. Of course we haven't had a very hard winter.

Don't be to fast to get boys to Eagle. If they earn Eagly at 13-14 they will earn their Palms by 15-16. They are then finished with the program but are to young to register as JASM or register as an adult. So where do they go? They are done and you will probably lost them. Kevin is just turning 12 and wants to earn Eagle by 16. That then gives him two years to do the Palms. I just think they need take things a little slower. Had a Wolf leader that had her boys finished with Wolf in December. They couldn't move up into Bears and got bored. By the time we did our advancement to the ne

We expect the boys to look neat. We expect them to wear their uniforms tucked in. So we as adults must sit that examply. No I don't like the uniform. I'm not slim and the way the pants and shirt fit make me look rather plump. But if I expect the boys to wear their uniform tucked in that is exactly how I should wear mine.

For one thing the CM does not have the authority to remove anyone as a Den Leader. We had to remove a leader last year. We had to meet with the Pack Committee Chair, our CO Rep. The District commissioner and our District Exe. They met with the leader. Went over what the problems then met with the parents that had complained. After about 2 months it was decided that the leader needed to go. But you can't go behind someones back and do this. It isn't fair to anyone in the unit much less the boys.

Boy I don't like it when Cubs hold crossover until May. The first thing that is happening is Summer Camp. The new boys haven't had a chance to get involved with the Troop. They really need that before going to summer camp. It is better is you can crossover in Feb. or March. This way the new boys can start working in the patrol system. The group that crossed over the year before my boys didn't move into the troop until the middle of May. Summer camp was the 2nd week of June. They were lost. Didn't really have a good camp experience. They didn't feel like they were part of the

I am in this for the kids and selfishly for myself. Not for BSA not for the Charter Org. So I would simply keep doing what I have been doing.

Married couples can sleep together on camping trips. Female leaders can share a tent. Male leaders can share a tent. Non married couples can not share a tent. Non parent adults can not share a tent with a boy. Parents can share a tent with a boy.

I grew up in a very church going family. When I got to be about 14 I decided that I didn't want to go to church any more. Big fight with my mother. It wasn't that I didn't believe in God simply I didn't believe in church. I told her that I felt a lot closer to God sitting on a horse on the top of the mountain than I didn sitting in church watching all the politics. I didn't go to church until my own children were small. Went for a while. When they got old enough to make their own decissions we stopped going. I am going again. Kevin (11) ask if we could. I enjoy the church HE chose.

What about the program are you doing different than "last year" And did these parents have boys in Tigers last year? What would really chap me is the fact that these parents didn't have the guts to come to you if they had a problem. Had a parent go behind my back once. When I found out I confronted her about it. She said she just didn't want to hurt my feelings. I told her that my feelings were hurt more because I had felt like she trusted me with her daughter and suddenly it was obvious that she didn't trust me enough to be honest with me. It all worked out and her daughter was

I guess maybe it is getting to know your kids. I have given books and such back without the song. Had a kid at day camp that left his hat on the steps of the lodge. I knew he would be so embarrassed if he had to stand in front of the group. I caught him before camp the next day and ask him if he was missing something and gave it back to him. I have also had kids that would will lost things just to get to "perform". It just depends on the kids.

I agree with BW. you need 4 adults. I simply wouldn't feel safe any other way.

At age 10 it is hard for a kid to understand faith if he hasn't been exposed. Hopefully scouting can give this young man enough wiggle room to find out where his heart is. The youth minister was almost 16 when he said he realized in his heart he did believe in God.

When my 6 Webs moved up into the troop just over a year ago they were formed into a New Scout Patrol. I was the ASM over the new patrol. When we do our elections we always ask if any boy wants to change patrols. Seldom do they. Your boys will ease into the routine of patrols. They will learn and before you know one of them will be patrol leader. From there it is all up and fun.

There isn't a boy in my troop that wouldn't want to end up with Suzzie. In fact most of them woul hide Suzzie just to get to do something silly. If we call every game that has someone lose "hazing" then we will stop all games. And that would be sad. In life there are winners and losers. I agree when everyone knows what the rules of the game are it is a game. The problem is when part of the people don't know the rules and can get hurt because of it. If a scout loses something and it is returned to him and he is ask to do the Squirel Dance is that hazing. All our boys know what happen

Maybe I worded what I said wrong. What I meant was that some Agnostics have trouble with the word GOD. And it would be sad to lose this boy to scouting because of a word. The belief in a higher being is a part of our heart and our soul. So the belief in a higher being was what I was getting at. Had a youth minister once that had been raised agnostic. When he got older he realized in his heart that he did believe in God. I would hope that there would be a way of keeping this boy in scouting until he is old enough for his heart to tell him how he believes.

To limit a boy to the belief in "GOD" is wrong. There are to many religions that though have a higher being do not refer to that being as "GOD" Don't get me wrong. I believe in God. I have also seem young people that were raised in homes that do not have any religious belief that later in life turn to religion. So in my opinion work as hard as you can with this young man. Give as much flex as you can. Many times when kids are not exposed to any religious belief they simply don't know. I don't care if they believe in a tree as long as they believe that there is a higher power.

Start another unit. Find a new Charter Org. Start a pack and build a troop. That is what happened in our district last year. One group was so much under the control of one person that the unit was dying. One leader started a new pack. That pack now has 33 boys. The other pack is down to 6.

We have two camping trips a year that are "family camping" trips. The remainder are leader only. This has worked well. OUr SM sits down with the parents when they first come into the troop and explain to them that part of the progression into Boy Scouts from Cub Scouting is teaching the boys to be more self sufficient. That as much as we would like to have them come it is important that the boys learn to camp without them. It has worked well. If we do need a parent to help we rotate the ones that like to go. But they must have taken CPR, First Aid, and YPT training to be able to go.

I would only remove a scout from an elected position if he is endangering other scouts. I would let the process run it's course. We had an SPL that wasn't worth anything. When it came time for OA elections, he was eligible. But guess what the rest of the troop let him know they were uphappy with his leadership by not electing him. It wasn't that they were being mean. Simply didn't feel he had shown good leadership skills. WHen he wan't tapped out he was hurt. I sat down and talked to him. I ask him why he thought he wasn't elected? His reply was that he hadn't acted very well as S

If you son started on the old requirements for a badge he needs to finish those requirements. A scout can not pick and chose the requirements between old to new. He has to do one or the other. If he is doing the requirements that have visit a bank in them he has to do that. BTW 13 weeks is 91 days.

One of the proudest I have been in Scouting so far was the night Kevin was tapped out. They had someone sit behind the scout and the OA member would put their hand on the scouts shoulder and say "you come now" in a very indian tone. It was really nice.

We used two from ScoutXing.com One was called Four Winds. The boy stood in the 4 corners of the room holding a flashlight. They read the saying for each wind as they walked to the stage. The room was dark except for their lights. Once they got to the stage we use the Neal Armstrong Quoat. It was really nice.