msnowman

This is a battle within myself that I hope I am not losing too often, finding the line between pushing Nephew and encouraging him. I know, it shouldn't seem that you have to push or encourage a 2nd or 1st Class bound Scout, but sometimes there are personal hurdles to be overcome (in his case, swimming). I try very hard to encourage him and to support him, letting him know that IF he is ready to go back for swimming practice to feel ready for trying for 1st class, I'll drive him to the Y everyday, once a week, whatever it is HE wants (and yes, it is a big deal, that is 60 miles round trip). I a

If your Pack is like ours, it has two seperate "years" that it runs. The Charter year is Jan to Dec, but the program year usually ends up being Sept to June. I'm retiring as CM at the end of this charter year (December) and the Pack will have to forge on without me. They have known a new CM was going to be needed since Sept, 2004, so the parents have had plenty of time to step up to task set before them to conduct a program for their boys as I did when mine was in the Pack. Good luck and keep plugging away, as frustrating as it may be, being part of your Scouts Pack will be some of the mo

I've been reading this thread with great interest. Nephew and I have been having conversations along this vein for the last couple of weeks. On the one hand he wants to say he is agnostic because "it sounds cooler". On the other, when asked to explain what it means to be agnostic he said "It means I believe in something higher than me, I'm just not sure what that is". As a family we do not subscribe to a specific religion. My mother didn't believe in shoving religion down our throats so we were left to form our own beliefs and commune/serve/pray with/to our choosen God in our own fashion. He a

Anarchist asks if there are any Scout camps that use cabins. Well, perhaps that depends on your defination of a cabin. Camp Roosevelt, the Scout Camp for the Katahdin Area Council has tents and Adirondaks. An Adirondak, at our Scout Camp is a structure with 3 wooden sides, a screened in front, a shingled roof, solid wooden floor (as opposed to the pallets that the tents are set on in the tent sites), 4 bunks, a screen door and no electricity. These are used year round at KSR (Katahdin Scout Reservation) and not just during Cub Camp/Pal & Me. About 1/2 or so of the sites at KSR have these s

In regards to Cabin camping - our Scout Camp has sites that are tented (no problem, we know those count) and some sites that have Adirondaks. Since the Adirondaks are enclosed and made of wood, they would probably best be considered cabins, though ones without electricity. So, does this mean that a Troop that draws the Addies as their site doesn't get to count those nights towards the Camping MB? And who, ultimately decides if it counts? My guess would be the MBC, which for our Troop happens to be SM. Michelle

In watching my nephew, my experience is the opposite of Hunt's. Nephew has a far easier time approaching strange adults as he has been doing it for several years. He orders his own food at restaurants (not just shouting in the clown's mouth), asks for help finding something in a store, makes his own purchases, etc. We've had/let/made him do this for practice, so he isn't as shy and reluctant to ask for help as his mother still is. However, approaching a member of your peer group, even an extended peer group like a mixed age Patrol, is another story. For him they are harder to approach because

Anachist - I'm not lisabob (nor do I play her on tv), but I did start the thread, so I thought I'd add my 2 coppers in. 1 - if I wasn't prepared for probing questions I wouldn't have posted here. My skin is thicker than that (I hope, though not as thick as that of a Vogon). For my part, feel free to ask/say what you'd like. What I don't like or really have issue with I'll ignore. /smile 2 - Our troop does not have an NSP, nor a Troop Guide. 3 - Nephew has been on all 3 camping trips the troop has taken. He earned Totin' Chip on the first one, a month after crossing over. 4

Thank you for all the replies. Nephew does not miss ANY scouting activity - Troop meetings, Campouts (which this Troop is currently only doing when there is a District Camporee), CoHs, 2 weeks of Camp, etc. There are no individual Patrol meetings, just weekly Troop meetings, during which the Patrols may meet for 15 minutes or so. There are no specific advancement activities planned or carried out during the meetings. So far, all of his work for advancement has either been learned at home or at camp and then signed off by one of the boys in the Troop (The sign offs in this Troop can be don

Nephew's troop is small and does not have a NSP. He is Tenderfoot working on 2nd class and is the lowest ranking scout in his Troop (Bridged last March). He has a few things left to do to finish up 2nd class, most of which could be finished at the upcoming camping trip, if he had someone to work with him to teach him the skills he needs (starting a fire, map & compass hike, mostly #1 & #2). So, I suggested to him that he talk to his PL, telling him that he needed help with some of his requirements and could they help him. The answer he received? "We'll cross that bridge when we g

I'm involved in the ceremony as the CM, not necessarily as the DL. In our Pack, the DL's normally participate in rank advancement ceremonies as Parent and not as Leader. The CM conducts the ceremony and makes the presentation. I'm not saying this is the way it is supposed to be or should be, just that this is the way it is with our Pack. That's why I had to ask, our Pack hasn't had a Den Chief in the last 5 years, so I've never even been to a Pack meeting that had a Den Chief, this is all new territory for me...well, for all of the current Pack leadership. I'm glad to know that he can an

I'm the CM/DL for our combo Wolf/Bear den. We had one boy complete Bobcat Sunday and I fully anticipate the other finishing by next Sunday (only has the Child Protection part left). My Den Chief played a decent sized role in helping them thru Bobcat. He is the one who suggested the "Bobcat Progress Card" and the sticker tracking (one small smiley face sticker on each of the 8 points as it is completed and then a big smiley face in the center when the whole thing is complete). He worked with each of them at each Den meeting to see how they were progressing and to help them along. I'd think he e

"How about wearing a long-sleeved uniform shirt. Hang up the short-sleeved shirt until summer." Sounds simple enough, but when money is an issue it isn't always that easy. I would think wearing a clean LS tshirt/thermal, etc under the short sleeve shirt would be better than not wearing any uniform shirt at all. Ebay has helped stretch the family uniforming budget, but for some families that would still be hard. YMMV Michelle

I agree that he didn't live up to the ideals of the Scout Law. However, I have to wonder whether the Scout Law leaves no room for remorse/regret and learning from ones....poor judgement (to be gracious). Setting attendence aside for a moment. The boy has admitted to the transgression and has taken steps to rectify it. Now I'm not saying rush right out and give him his Eagle just because he found someone to sign his MB card. Right now he is not Eagle material (in my opinion). But, I don't think a blanket "now he can never be an Eagle because he did this once" would be fair either. If

EagleinKY said "I took it that the pack situation was just used as an example, which led to msnowman's question " I was wondering - is it ever appropriate for an adult (when the floor is open for suggestions) to present an activity idea?" We ran with the question as being "Is it ever appropriate for an adult to suggest an activity idea to the PLC?". We've then been talking about methods of achieving that, within the boy-led system. msnowman - am I correct?" Yes, that is essentially what I was asking...Is it ever appropriate for an adult to offer an activity suggestion to the Troop e

Since acco40 asked, I had to go look it up to see for myself...and ya know, the only place I specifically found a caveat against double dipping is in the AoL requirements, number 4 (With your Webelos den, visit at least one Boy Scout troop meeting, one Boy Scout-oriented outdoor activity.(If you have already done this when you earned your Outdoorsman activity badge, you may not use it to fulfill requirements for your Arrow of Light Award requirements.) and number 5 (Participate in a Webelos overnight campout or day hike. (If you have already done this when you earned your Outdoorsman activit

I would be concerned about "double dipping" if the exact activity was being used to cover two different requirements. For example, taking a family hike at a Wildlife Refuge couldn't be used for both 5d (visit a zoo, aviary, wildlife refuge) and 12b (take a hike with your family), as it is one event. However, in my mind, the birdfeeder thing could be counted as two seperate things as there were two seperate activities going on. I think of it like this - if we made birdfeeders on week, thats one thing. If, in the next meeting we decorated those same birdfeeders (or completely different one

Thank you all for the hints, tips, thoughts. Train wrecks - gotta let them happen, that's the best educator, as long as nobody gets physically injured. I'm not of the warm & fuzzy "nobody's feelings get hurt" school - that's a learning experience too. This troop has no NSP, Nephew is a new Tenderfoot and is the youngest Scout in the Troop. The troop is small (though not as small as the Pack) at about 10 - 12 boys, and it is pretty 14+ heavy. Only 3 Scouts are under 14 and 2 of them are already first class (they were the class ahead of Nephew). The Pack isn't bridging anybody in,

1 - First are you a registered scouter? - Yup, but not in the troop yet. 2 - This particular Troop does a very...um....laid back approach to calendars. (That's actually been the biggest struggle for me to get used to in coming from the Pack. Boy led? No sweat. No calendar? ARGH!) 3 - We don't have ASM's mentoring any patrol. The ASM's and SM are far more hands off (sometimes, almost to the point of being ineffectual, but I hold my own council on that since I am not willing to be an SM or ASM and figure they are doing what they feel is best). 4 - Giving the ball to Nephew - That

I fully appreciate that Boy Scouts is boy led. I think its a grand idea. When the Pack's two den chiefs asked if they could plan and lead a Pack meeting I was all for it (December is all theirs). However, as I am still finding my way in Nephew's troop I was wondering - is it ever appropriate for an adult (when the floor is open for suggestions) to present an activity idea? I don't mean insist on it being done, but offer it as an available option? For example, doing a rescue situation...it might be a nice suggestion, but maybe the guys haven't thought of it as an option. Right now I don't

Agreed Eamonn - our Pack as very little equipment and almost none of it useful to anybody outside of Cub Scouting - a Pinewood Derby Track, a bridge and a bunch of craft supplies. No question that all belongs to the CO until they decide otherwise...the most useful things we have for our CO would be our paper products...afterall, what church can't use more plastic forks/knives/spoons/cups, etc? LOL Fortunatly for us our COR is very active in Scouting (at the local, district and council levels), but he is the only member of the church who is. As far as what the Pack has on account, I hav

This is refreshing - Nephew's troop is still wrestling with the idea of Patrols doing activities seperate from just Troop activities. There has been a long held belief that Patrols couldn't do activities on their own (adult supervision was immaterial to that specific debate). As far as "Any Tenderfoot should be have been able..." knowing what to do in theory and being able to apply it in practice are two seperate issues. An 11 year old BS may very well know how to do a splint and stretcher when it comes to pretend rescuing a buddy with a broken leg. Being able to keep ones head when face

FScouter - I have approached every single adult, individually, with positions that would suit their strengths. We have 3 who would be great in the CM position, its just that they aren't interested. I'm hoping the COR will have better luck. Michelle

CMJerry, yes, we do have a very small pack (down to 2 Wolves, 1 Bear and 3 Tigers) from a very small school (Under 170 for grades K-8). Our CO is a local Methodist church with a very...aging population, they don't even have a Sunday School because they have no youth. The CO ignores us unless we want to use the Parish Hall at the same time as one of the Church groups. Our COR is aware of the situation (he's also the DC) and agrees that it is time for the other parents to step up. He will be at our Pack meeting next week to give it a shot. The whole of Pack leadership/committee is myself (C

A Unit folds? By most figuring our Pack will, unfortunately, not be rechartering this winter. None of the parents of current Cub Scouts are willing to step up and take on leadership roles, including CM. I've already told the parents that I will not be rechartering as CM and without a CM the Pack will fold. I have advised my COR & CC of this same thing. Before you say "The committee..." please understand that we have been working as a committee of 3 for the last year, so right or wrong I am 1/3 of the committee. The CC is also looking to retire from the Pack but is willing to stay anothe

My best training was the very first one I went to, about 4 years ago now. I learned the single most useful piece of information there "BSA does not stand for Baby Sitters of America". This came 2 months after I started as Wolf ADL and I wish it had come sooner. Michelle CM - P102