momma_bee

Actually, no, my son is at camp and can't help plan. The PL who would do what he is asked is the child of the mother that doesn't care for me*. If I said to that young man, here is a blank piece of paper, create a shopping list and we will meet you at the store to write the check to pay the bill - he'd be there and have the cooler ready (because mom nagged him to take it) He and my boy have been together since diapers - I know what he can do and what he WILL do. (two different things) I knew the troop was in trouble when then 14yo SPL told me at camp he didn't need to tell the

Actually, you're side note explains my frustration as well as everyone elses. There was very little in the packet. I'd have to find my copy for specifics, but the 'rules' looked like what you would tell a camper (follow procedures, you can't do this-n-that, follow scout law, follow 2DL, don't drink, don't smoke) In fact I had to sign a paper that said he was or was not allowed to smoke in a smoking area. Um, under 18? not allowed. Over 18, doesn't need his parents permission. The contract does state 11am Sunday to 11am Saturday. Orally, once he got to camp he found out there

I was surprised that in a council that reschedules roundtable if it is on Maundy Thursday there wasn't some latitude to attend church on a specific day. I am not trying to change anyones mind. I was surprised. It is really that tough to say that you are glad to hear that it went ok? After all, I said he received permission. I posted the update for those that are interested.

I give up...I need that falling over in a faint smilie I use elsewhere. I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel. I'm trying to put the wheel on the cart. There are five boys in the troop. Total. If we do not camp the weekend of the 15th, we cannot camp until the second weekend in October. And, there is already an activity for the 3rd and 4th weekend for two of the boys. The SPL has never led a PLC. He has never camped with us (he is a transfer and doesn't 'need' camping anymore. He is unlikely to come. The PL will do whatever I ask, and is iffy to good on attending camp

His troop - his SM was at the church service, otherwise, they wouldn't know he was there, instead of being driven to his job that is unrelated to his troop. His employer? We (he and I) are still up in the air about how there is a double standard for being late, being off, 'working' verses showing up and people who pull pranks and lie about money. A scout is reverent, he is also trustworthy, loyal, courteous, (it seems to me there is a list) I see lots of boys on staff at that camp who have fallen short, haven't we all. If they make or break staff on being on time, and keep kid

since the computer ate my first attempt at this post and I am out of time. The troop needs to learn how to lead. We have been doing things wrong and that has to change. Due to school, work and family schedules, there is one weekend that looks ok for the Scoutmaster to camp. My plan (as nagging wife of SM, not CC) is to book a site that is easy for us, plan for the adults and INSIST the boys plan for themselves. The problem is the SPL and PL have never stepped up to 'lead' anything. (lets not digress onto that topic). We plan by as a group. The group cannot all be in the sam

My thoughts on parents at BOR's are similar. My objects would be based on experience and I have at least 3 or 4 sets of parents that would answer for their son if given the chance. Which made me chuckle at the typo. Insight is vision and what I knew you meant, but INCITE, to cause to rise up, seems like what would happen in our troop. Parents at the BOR would INCITE me to rise up and squash their need to speak for their perfectly capable sons. However, an adult equivent of a BOR would be interesting. "Your son has earned his First Class Rank - what activity did he talk about the

That works It also would mean that Girl Scout's renamed Leave No Trace for their own use, but hey...

I want my DE to either be a source of information or able to direct me to the answers. If he wants to add 'planning' to 'knowing, or knowing what he doesn't know' then he needs to remember that he is planning for the Boys (and by extension, parents) If the DE in question changed dates because the SE told him too, he should share that info. If he is in over his head, he should know who to go to for help treading water and getting to shore. For example, I am good at the newsletters, forms, and recordkeeping. I offered to condense files before they went out. I had a DE wh

It is fun to try and guess. If Tia doesn't beat me too it, I may call and ask. M____ I__________ Contaminated Environment?

Guilty as charged. Anyone who can read a list of suggested questions and make insightful notes / suggestions works for me. I have called other troops to provide adults at times. We have 5 boys in the troop. With one exception, they each have at least one parent registered, sometimes two. But, I struggle with explaining (AGAIN) that mom, dad, stepdad, guardian, and mom's new husband are all related and cannot serve. We work hard to make sure that the SM / ASM who did the conference is NOT on the BOR and that the parents are not. I also screen those with an axe to grind. This mak

If it helps the rest of us, the requirement reads "Review what M.I.C.E. stands for and how you should follow it when cooking and cleaning up." And, I will admit reading it this summer and since I was clueless, deciding it was a requirement that we would skip. (yes, that option exists in Girl Scouts, sometimes, sort of) I found the mouse cooking tips too. Scary. Measure Ingredients Carefully and Efficently????

Joined the church the other day. BigBee stood up as our family was welcomed. He talked to the program director and said wanted to do this and may be late and this time she said 'no problem' and we were about 1/2 hour late at most. Did this effect him negatively? I don't know. This marked the transition from Boys to Cubs and he didn't have a 'job' for the first session since he wasn't there to volunteer. He became a Boy Friday as it were. I don't know if that holds for the second session as well or not. I hope that at the end of Cubs there isn't a perception that he didn't

Never mind - I was thinking sporting beltloops because I was thinking Derby and Cubs. We have had sports days for our troop where they invite up Cubs, perhaps your son could plan something along those lines.(This message has been edited by momma_bee)

I want to say THANK YOU for posting the scoutlander link. We tried a google group last year, no one read it. Tried a google page but locked it, folks 'couldn't' log in because they never got the email and couldn't get it to work (look at me trying NOT to roll my eyes) This site looks good. That is, it almost looks parent proof. And thank you so much WolfMama for posting to your packs site. My DeeDee looked at it and decided she wants to run one for her troop and I think I will let the BigBee start one for his. I'm sure there is an age thing and I will need to go on record, b

About this 'scoutlander' It claims its intention is for scouts to be able to take over...how is the admin / login handled? I ask this because it may be doable - but I have two troops and may want to pass them off in two different directions.

OK, I thought there may have been a change since I looked that up many moons ago. Thanks for straightening me out. (We had a den do just that once, and I found out it was wrong about 8 months after the fact. As an aside, they were Bears, earning money to purchase their scrapbook supplies from Creative Memories to meet that requirement. They were only $100 short of what they needed and the DL was bragging how well they did on that sale. I still roll my eyes when I see her - not very scouty of me but is is more kind and courteous than I'd like to be)

mmm, Gertrude Hawk - can you send me a dark chocolate, please??? I didn't think a den could do its own fundraiser. Could someone clarify? We have done well with a local supplier of stromboli's. The band does pies that are delivered the week before Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. This seems to appeal to the 'last minute buffet' needs we all have.

We did it for the 'on-time' scouts as well. The prizes were usually donated by parents. I had a mom that would donate her kids 'unused' toys. Grandma treated them too well and she would clean and find stuff still in the package or would put up things and then they'd lose interest and she cleaned stuff out. Win-win. We had tried a totem and beads for the other stuff (uniform, opening) and it became a hassle.

When we did them, an adult cut a slit in the box after the parts were removed. Then the boat was built and the medal rudder (is that the right part) is set in the slit to hold the boat up. The box can be taped to a table if needed and the box holds it for painting purposes.

There wasn't anything like that mentioned on the list BigBee had. I wonder if it has to do with keeping your legs well covered to protect from bugs and such.

Regarding the patches: Our DE took this over for a while. Same set up, let a Scout design it, then order the exact amount we need (no expensive leftovers for sale for a quarter) Keep in mind the design needs to be cleaned up, because I doubt it was clear and camera ready. So, you have a design bouncing back and forth between the artist, someone at council itself, and the company. Then the order is processed. Suddenly it is Program Launch in June and then no roundtables. Yep - it is lousy to wait until fall, but that part sounds realistic to me. Especially if there was any hold up in th

I forgot I had a fun story - rather than a 'they got away with it' story. We were at Cub Resident Camp and I had a tent to myself. I woke up at just-before-dawn to hear 'rustle, rattle' that became a 'rustle, rattle, crunch, crunch' coming from under my tent. It was early enough I figured I could wait it out. Soon a lot of rustling was going on and some growling added it. And the distinct smell of eau'du'skunk. That was when I saw the flashlight. Back and forth until it shone under my tent. "Go back to your tent boys." - Mrs Bee, there is something under your tent

I have no ideas, but I'll tell a few stories... We talked about 'no food in the tents' at summer camp and my 1st year scouts bear-proofed their food, until it was gone the next day. Meanwhile, my SPL was spending lots of time in his tent with the flaps down. On Wednesday, family night, his folks came up and asked him if he needed more bread, peanut butter or jelly. Seems he had the fixin's under his bed and was making food when he was hungry. I repeated that there wasn't supposed to be food in the tents and Mom informed me it was fine, after all, nothing had got into it all week and c

I just remembered another thing we did - we gave parents the option of having a 'family' account if they had 2 or more boys in the pack. I think at that point, if one bridged and another was still in the Pack, we would have given them the decision as to how much money was passed forward. This allowed grandma to help both of her grandsons with one tin of popcorn. Very important when that was all she could afford.