Twocubdad

Yep, well, in three months it's the Scoutmaster's problem. Sounds like she's training the boys for how the troop operates. All for you to do is show up for their Eagle ceremony next year and smile.

James, Jacob and parents shouldn't see another sunrise as members of the troop.

I'll assume the kids actually know the material and their moms aren't just pencil whipping the requirements. If the only sticking point is that their moms are doing the signing, don't sweat it. Play this out to the end. You spend the next five days rearranging your life to accommodate them, they keep blowing you off and they still show up to get their AOL. Then what? Are you willing to die on that hill. Life is too short.

I assume you are the WDL. So when you fold the den flag in March, what is said parent/committee member going to do for den meetings? I suggest he/she pound sand. Your training is correct, Crossover should occur in the early spring and for a very practical reason: it allows the boys to join the troop, get settled, get a few campouts under their belts and, most importantly, get to know the older Scouts prior to summer camp. The alternative is to continue in the pack until "graduation" in late May or early June, join the troop, go to three meetings and take off for a week at Boy Scout camp with a bunch of stranger and without any training or experience. Ask the parent if he/she sees any advantages or disadvantages to either approach. Look, you're dealing with a parent who just doesn't want to let go. They want to snuggle in the last few warm fuzzy months of Cub Scouts as long as they can. Boy Scout troops are for teenagers, for heaven's sake and their Sweet Tender Thing couldn't possibly be associated with those furry, foul-smelling adolescents. I deal with two or three of them a year. Usually they are easy to spot because their boys are the ones most eager to get the heck away from mom and dad. Stick to your guns, you're doing right by the Scouts. Get the CM/SM's help on this. A thorough parent's orientation to the Scout Troop will help, but the only real solution is for the boy to become a typical insolent, smart aleck 13-year-old so that the PARENT wants to get them out of the house.

It seems to me everyone is able to make up their own minds and manage the situation as they see fit. I see no good purpose in a 15-year-old using one. I do, however, have an ASM who uses one as part of a program to quit smoking. I see no reason for the nanny state -- local, state, federal or BSA -- to get involved.

Agreed. 7 8 9 10

I can't decide if the article is brutally honest or just mean. Perhaps both. Skip, a pet peeve of mine it the comparison of idyllic socialist democracies of Scandinavia with the US. Arguably one could compare Scandinavia with New England, but not the US as a whole.

For accuracy, why not have a large fire lay and occasionally chunk a smoke bomb in it. All smoke, no flames, no heat, no light. Anyone who has ever tried to complete First Class cooking will understand immediately.

I used wooden knives and sandpaper sharpening stones with the Cubs, but only to teach sharpening. That was mainly to keep the cubs from ruining their real knives while learning. If you are teaching proper safety procedures and techniques, safety shouldn't be an issue. Besides, you can cut yourself with a wooden or plastic knife, too, if you aren't using it properly.

Watching it now. Just noticed he wears an international Scout emblem on his shirt. That's kinda cool. Yup, 26 minutes into the show, he's drinking his own pee.

Attaboy!!!

Earning all the merit badges is like driving all 47,00 miles of the interstate highway system. Sure, it takes a lot of time and effort, but to what end? My first question would be why would you want to do either? Nor is it the purpose/intent of either. Of course you then want the rest of us to pretend it's some great accomplishment on the order of winning the Indy 500. But becoming an Indy driver requires real skill and talent, not to mention years of practice and dedication. Driving every mile of the interstate system only takes time, money and a cast iron butt.

He would have shown me more had he spent the extra time camping, hiking, fishing, shooting, providing service, leadership to others and having fun with his Scout friends. All this proves is there is something terribly wrong with the advancement program in his troop/district.

I disagree with most of what has been written. First, this is a question for the beneficiary organization. The funds are being raised on their behalf and in their name. If they are cool with it I see no reason the troop or council should have a complaint. Hopefully, the Scout should have been up front with the beneficiary about his financial situation and made them aware of how his fundraising was going. Secondly, if it is acceptable for parents or Scouts to self-fund projects, why isn't it acceptable for the parent to "loan" the Scout money to keep the the project going. We don't know what time constraints the Scout may have been under. Maybe he was leaving for school and needed to finish over the summer. Maybe the project involved landscaping and needed to be in before a hard freeze. Sounds like an interesting Personal Management lesson in cash flow. As to the various sign-offs, I think an argument can be made that if the Scout is still raising money the project isn't complete. Again, the Scout needs to disclose this in his write up. The SM and BOR can approve or not, that's is their prerogative. As an SM, I would need to know more details. If this were written up as a change in scope and documented as such, I'd be inclined to sign off on it, assuming the change didn't drop the scope of the project below what I would consider an acceptable project. Personally, I think it is entirely honorable for the Scout to stick to his original commitment to the project, find solutions and not bail because of the failure of his fundraising effort.

I'm not clear. Do you have two Webelos or nine? Web 1 or 2? Two Web 2s crossing over this winter I would probably encourage to look at other troops. Nine Web 1s crossing over in 18 months, I would look at as the nucleus of a new/revamped troop. Remembering all the turmoil/BS when your son went through the junk with the troop, I would almost call it preferably to let the old troop fold and take their head trash with them. But then ask the council to hold the unit dormant for a year until that group of nine could start it anew. Timing is everything and you would be playing Russian roulette with the troop. And of course all would be predicated on new leadership for the troop, but it's a thought.

Mary Jane? Good morning! This is you wake up call. It's now 1966.

You know the score. Time to be part of the solution or part of the problem.

Has policy changed? I thought the thing which was different between Webelos den camping and Cub Scout camping is that Webelos are allowed to camp with only their (two) den leaders. Parental supervision is not a requirement. We certainly ran Webelos resident camp that way.

A whole course on EDGE? How can you possibly spend more than 20 minutes explaining EDGE? Over the years I've defended EDGE as part of the Boy Scout program simply because it is ONE way of teaching Scouts how to teach and requires them to pay attention to where their students are in the learning process. I certainly don't think it is a good way to teach in every circumstance, but if you are new at being an instructor it's a good starting point. But for adult trainers?

His choice. Sounds like a lesson on the horizon.

It was a contingency which was planned for but not exercised. You're really thinking too much about this. Let the Scout worry/deal with it. If the advancement folks have an issue, they will contact the Scout and he can handle it then. And if they have a problem, what's the down side? Are they going to have him arrested? Skinned? Boiled in oil? Worse case the Scout jumps through a couple paperwork hoops. There is no down side here but a good opportunity for the Scout to learn a lesson about reading instructions, attention to detail and follow-through. But, then again, probably not as I doubt it will ever be mentioned. Unless you are the beneficiary or Scoutmaster, you really don't have a dog in this fight. Please tell me you aren't the Scout's parent. This should be a minor hurdle for an Eagle Scout to handle.

Life lessons at no additional cost!

The last few have been well under two weeks. Everything now is electronic. Here, the council stocks the presentation kits and prints all the certificates locally. Apps are vetted locally by the council registrar before it goes to the board of review. I really don't know why it needs to go to national anyway. Sounds like dog-wizzing-on-tree to me.

More common is for the pages to wear out/fall out. We try to occasionally update the TroopMaster records as a backstop. As to the fix, I go for a hybrid approach. I do think the Scout needs some skin in the game and needs to put some effort into retracing the signoffs. My opinion is it has less to do with trustworthy and more to do with accountability and responsibility. We ask the Scout to go to the individuals who originally did the signoff, if they remember doing so. Some of the requirements are clear cut -- either he attended the five or 10 troop activities or not. Either he cooked two meals/served as troop cook or not. Those are easy. When it comes down to it, if no on has any recollection of the Scout passing a requirement we ask him to go through it again. Ultimately, loosing a book has never been an impediment to advancing, but it's enough of a hassle that the Scout thinks twice about keeping up with his stuff.

A non-issue. Submit the packet when he's ready and don't worry. Have the scout explain in his narrative that the funds were raised through the church and all he did was negotiate some discounts. Odds are low anyone will question the fundraising app.