momof2cubs

Twocubdad: It doesn't surprise me. What angers me the most is not so much that National makes an untold amount of money off of their products, but that they get said products from China. This is Boy Scouts of AMERICA we are talking about.

So I went to guidestar, registered, and took a look at their latest 990 form (2010). I am an accountant, so I think I can muddle my way through a 990 form. The results were interesting to say THE LEAST. I believe that it was Basement that said that FOS stands for Fund Our Salaries and I think I just confirm it. They listed only the salary of the Chief Executive only (at a comfortable six figures) but then listed a couple more executives at also a low (but still very comfortable)six figures. It also surprise me how low the net income from the shop was (200K), I was assuming a lot more. I t

You can't put a price on it. It's invaluable. We are helping to mold and shape the character of young boys and men. We are helping them become contributing and valuable members of society. Maybe even prominent members of society. Leaders. There's no price tag for that. I will be FOREVER grateful to the men and women that have volunteered their time to the betterment of my children. I could never repay it.

In recent months I have become thoroughly disenchanted by council and their FOS campaigns. I am tired of the constant pressure to sell popcorn and donate money. And I don't see why they need/want my money. Everyone I talked to spews the corporate line about "maintaining the properties" and "running the program" without giving me ANY specifics whatsoever. So this year, I raised the issue. I told our FOS volunteer that I wasn't donating any money because I am not taking in good faith that it is properly managed. I went to our council office and asked to see the financial report and got the

I've seen them at the scout shop. They were not that cheap then. At any rate, I can't buy them .. our pack uses official BSA pants for cubs.

Some people have a lot of scouting e-mail that they send out and they hold different positions. Maybe for them it is easier to just have an automatic signature stamp that lists them all so that recipients know who he is. Personally, I just put my name and whatever position is relevant to that e-mail, just to give people context. So if I am e-mailing the entire pack about awards, I will sign my name and then just say "Awards Chair". If I am e-mailing some district person, I include the pack number.

We usually get the Web IIs to kinda be the "pack chiefs" at pack meetings. They get a charge out of being the seniors and helping out the adults. We try to keep pack meetings fresh and changed every year, but you know how it is..anything a 6 year old can do, a 10 year old doesn't want to. It's a good way of keeping those guys engaged during their last year.

As long as he impounds it before hand, why not?

That's where I got my original quote. From the meritbadge.org site. The way it reads, if he completed 5th grade, he can be in boy scouts regardless of age. I never thought about the homeschooling implications. Could become interesting. EDIT:i just thought of something: PORs. From what I understand PORs are dependent on a)being elected (by other scouts) or b)being appointed by the SM. I have a hard time believing that any SM would appoint a 9 year old to a POR or that he would be elected by his "peers" to a POR. It could happen, I suppose, but it seems unlikely. Unless dad is the SM.

For school chartered units, this would be a pain if true. It is usually the school's PTA that is the CO, which would make the PTA president the IH. And that position changes at least every 2 years, more often every year. I'm glad to hear that it isn't so.

kbandit: not necessarily. The requirements to join boy scouts are be 11 years old OR have completed 5th grade OR earned AoL AND be at least 10. If this boy completes 5th grade, he will eligible regardless. I would ask the parents. If it were my kid, I would fast track the wolf rank over the summer (doable) and then put him in the bear rank with all his friends rather than having him be alone for another year.(This message has been edited by momof2cubs)

I think it may be asking a lot to do it until son ages out. It's a hard job. I am guessing there aren't any rules about it, because it's not like you can force a volunteer to serve if they are done with it. My personal opinion is that it should be a minimum of 2 years, as long as you are enjoying it and are doing a good job, in order to have some continuity in leadership. If you want to do it for longer, that's awesome. Packs have a lot of turnover, since cubbies are only there for 5 years. But if you are burnt out and done, then by all means, step out.

This is one of the most fun activities I have ever witnessed in my pack. Boys had a blast. I want to thank you all again for posting/discussing this great idea.

Having a yearly uniform inspection is one of the requirements for our district specific quality unit award (it's not called that -- it is a district award for units that go beyond what BSA now calls journey to excellence). It includes several other requirements that our district believes are what make a quality unit and that go beyond just raising money for national/council and just adding names to our roaster. Things like, having service projects, training leaders, having summer pack events, etc. At any rate, I am not sure if it really falls under the UC's responsibilities but he does un

I didn't see the OP as a helicopter parent at all. Simply a concerned parent. Just because a parent takes a concerned interest in their child's scouting career doesn't make them a helicopter parent. And the 1st year in Boy Scouts is somewhat stressful. There's a lot of responsibility for the kid to learn and a lot of backing off for the parent to do. There's no need to claim that a parent is hovering just because they want to make sure they know how things get done.

While there is NO official BSA rule about being an MBC for your own kid, many troops discourage it, and I can see why (Adult Association Method). Considering how involved you were in your son's CS career (and that's great!), now might be the time for him to stand on his own, to interact with other adults and take charge of his own scouting. I know my kid most definitely does not want me to be part of leadership now that he is in a troop. I promised him that I would not become an ASM for at least 2 years and that I would be involved in committee only. He wants some freedom away from his leader

It's a local thing with no real national standards. Personally, I believe it kinda symbolizes the Arrow of Light, so we only award it to the ones that earned AoL. However, different packs have different practices.

I know I am probably wrong on this, but I think the Lone Scout program was designed for kids that had diplomat/military type parents that moved around outside the US a lot, for kids that lived in remote areas with no troops, and kids with extreme disabilities that just could not get to a troop meeting. That may not be the letter, but I think it was the spirit. And those situations can occur today just as they occurred in 1912. However, I think it is not the best option in spirit. Part of the scouting experience is the patrol, the sense of belonging, learning to deal with other scouts of p

Haven't the girl scouts dumped the uniform for all but the most formal of occasions in favor of just a vest?

I'm not saying I agree with it, I'm not saying it works. I'm just saying that is is happening. And it is the direct result of the helicopter parenting trend that is becoming common place. It is something that BSA will have to fight tooth and nail. As we can see in this thread, some parents have already found a work around for it.

John, don't count on it. There are plenty of parents today that take a VERY active role on their children's job hunt. Including attending the interview, negotiating salary, and calling HR.

Those tunic style tops are actually not bad AT ALL. I think they could cover a multitude of sins regarding the pants. I like them. Cuz that's another issue with the shirt, they are not tailored for women either, but those tunics look actually pretty nice and could flatter a lot of figures. In the last link, the green shirt (1st on the right), is actually quite nice. I'd wear that. The skorts are really dorky. I wouldn't wear that either. I see your point, but actually dress uniforms in the military for women are not bad at all. I think BSA could do just as well.

My husband told me that when he was a cubbie (this would be in the early 70s) den mothers were very common and were actually leaders, even though they didn't call them that. He said his mom had a skirt and a shirt. So...what happened to the skirts? Why can we not have those anymore? Or are there around somewhere? Other than in dusty attics I mean. And Eagle, you are correct. You are a Uniform Policeman.

So I spun this because we were getting off subject in the original thread. But we touched upon the fact that uniform pants are awful on women. So ladies, how do you deal? Do you tailor them? Do you grin and bear it? What do you wish we had? Better fitting? More options like in jeans (i.e. boot cut, tapered, stretchy, etc)? Do you wish we had skirts or skorts? Personally, I loathe them and not wear them. I had resisted becoming a uniformed leader because I refuse to pay $40 for pants that make me look like a trussed chicken. So what say you female scouters?

I don't think the gay thing has anything to do with it. Well, maybe some, but I doubt that there are millions of parents out there not signing up their kids for scouts because they perceive BSA to be "anti-gay". I think the truth is that kids have a whole lot more options these days in terms of extracurriculars or enrichment activities as they call it. Plus I think sports have gone insane in the last few years. The commitment required from a very young age to become competitive in sports is a lot more now than it used to be. And I don't know a whole lot about AHG. But I have heard of