WisconsinMomma

Sounds like you are off to a great start. Good luck!

Great explanation. Maybe the way to get around all this is to hire a bus to/from camp. I'm serious. If the adults come from a need for transportation, then upgrade your transportation so you can have your Scouts back??

I was very happy as a den leader for 4 years for my middle son's group, and so I've already had the most wonderful time in Scouting. Of course, it's easy to say that when it's all over, it was hard work. My youngest son has a Bear den leader and that den is stable. One of the volunteers for CM stepped up to help his son's Wolf den, and I think that was a great move for him. When my middle son crossed over, I offered to be ACM,and you know that's not a bad role, not much responsibility, no pressure, etc.: ) Maybe I should take a nap and be content with ACM. When I was a den leader, my motto was to focus on the den, not the Pack and that was very helpful -- staying out of the Pack stuff, where there are cliques and politics and weird jockeying around. I just need a clear answer on if they want me to serve as CM or as interim CM or to continue as ASM *if* they get someone to take the CM role. I really don't care, except my 9 year old would be delighted if I was Cubmaster, and I feel I'm qualified, but what will be will be. I'm going to say it's not my problem right now. The crazy thing for me is how organizations treat volunteers. In our Pack, some are fawned over and make a big splash with a lot of talking while others are taken for granted, and the adult scouting roles can be truly, stunningly thankless. I think that's just the way of life, though. Den families were always appreciative and kind. And I don't think our COR and AOL DL's motives are totally bad -- they want people who are organized and Type A, -- on the one hand they want people who can get things done --- on the other hand, there's a strong bent toward perfectionism and shunning people who don't meet their standards. They have a strong preference for sports families and PTO families who they are friends with and even their particular subdivision. I think they see the school as the "in" crowd and the "outs" and there's the whole idea that if you're the right kind of parent with the right kind of kid, those kids are the winners and the most popular and they all own the school, so to speak. That's the attitude. Very clubby and the power moms and dads, the former jocks and cheerleaders playing the same popularity games in their 40's. And the way I'm wired, it's just tough to watch it. Of course my view is negative and I should try to be more open.

Thanks, I just needed to vent. I spoke with the CC and COR and shared my feelings. My impression is that the COR wants to install her choices, twist arms to get the volunteers she wants, and presure them to take multi year commitments. I will make some popcorn and wait for my orders.

That sounds kind of hard to believe, but I believe you. Wouldn't everyone acknowledge that there is a difference between a family trip and a BSA trip? My family goes camping and we go on trips and we can go backpacking or do service projects or learn skills as a family. We do. We have great family trips and outings and it's part of who we are and what we do. But a BSA outing is different and it puts the boys in a different group of people and that is good. It also gives the structure for advancement and recognition and very clear instructions, safety rules, best practices and requirements and that is also good.

Good question Was it effective????? LOL. One of the parents in my son's therapy group has a story of her son who hit another kid. He told the kid to stop a few times, then said, stop, or I'm going to hit you, the other kid didn't stop, the lady's son hit the other kid, and THE KID STOPPED. So her kid learned his method was effective. Her kid didn't get into trouble at school either, because he warned the kid -- stop or I will hit you. LOL. Sorry, it's only funny when it's not your own kid.

Our PWD has winners for speed and design too. Some kids really get into the design, others get into the speed. Thankfully the kids are generally sportsmanlike about the whole thing. We had a beautiful parent car once. The kid was so proud of that car, too. Given that that kid's parents soon had a very ugly divorce, I am happy that this kid and his dad made some good memories together with that car. In the end, it's just a PWD.

As far as I can tell the request has been respectful and courteous. Different people have different styles, some are rule followers, and some are change agents. It's all OK. My opinion would change if the girl or her family starts trashing the BSA and behaves poorly, but I don't think anything is wrong with a polite request either.

Our Cubmaster retires in Feb. I am assistant Cubmaster. I have offered to be Cubmaster if needed. The Pack recruited another person to be Cubmaster, but his son's den needed a Den Leader and he chose to fill that role instead (and that's an even better job, being a Den leader). The CC asked me to fill in as a temporary CM, then the CM asked me to be CM and introduced me at the Pack meeting as the next CM who is shadowing until the transition. At the last Committee meeting (I was at a school board mtg that night), the COR and AOL DL and whomever else discussed pack recruiting and the COR made a list of positions that are needed, listing a Cubmaster as an immediate need. I had also volunteered to help manage Fall camping, and they listed a fall camping chair as a need and failed to include me as someone who is helping. The COR has also expressed interest in placing her choice for the next CC, but our current CC is on board for the next two years. The committee would like to recruit a new Tiger dad who serves in the military to be CM. He would be great. That's cool, but he expressed concerned about deployment. It seems they are going to work on him to take the CM role, saying deployment is OK, as I would be there as ASM (my current job). But, he hasn't said yes. Meanwhile, the AOL DL is going to present the leader needs list at the next Pack meeting and try to recruit people. I am hurt, they say it was not intentional. I am position trained and ready to go and two people have asked me to be CM, but... I can't consider this settled yet. Wish me luck at the next committee meeting, where AOL DL wants to be very involved with setting up the Pack for the future. Ah, Pack politics! I almost feel like taking my ball and going home but then I'm the bad guy.

I think that's cool. 3d printing is cool. The Scout will learn different manufacturing techniques and that's OK! Maybe the car will run well, maybe it won't, but it will be a memorable experience for the kid making that car. Unless the Pack has specific rules against it, why not? Why not let the kid have some freedom?

I think that how this will go, is that people who will take the job at it's offered pay will take the job. If they are smart, they will either a) take the job for a short time and trade up to a better paying job, b) be the second income in their family and have a spouse's income to help, or c) have worked other jobs, become financially well-set and take the DE job for the community service later in life. Not everyone needs to make a big wage. Some people will find these jobs fit them, others won't and that's OK.

Pensions are going away all over the place. In the sense of being thrifty, the BSA must look at its operation costs and keep it lean. The BSA will need to have good enough compensation to attract and retain talented staff, and if the pay and benefits are not good enough, they will fail to get the best people. Organizations and individuals all need to look for the best deal they can get.

Stay in communication with your son's school and teachers. What can the school do to help and what can you do at home to help? I'll say that the transition from elementary to middle school was rough for my oldest, it's a rough time for a lot of kids. Best wishes.

I was speaking to a parent the other day about school stuff and raising kids, and teens, etc. etc. and I asked, you have the two boys and your oldest is a daughter, right? She said -- actually my oldest is nonbinary, so we use different pronouns. OK, so, honestly this is new stuff for me, and it takes me a little time to wrap my head around. But, this is our world and this is how things are working right now. So, this nonbinary child, they can be part of Scouting. I have very little experience with in-between gender identity, and I don't even know if that's the appropriate way to describe it. But, this is where society is going. The other day, I noticed some boys clothes in Target, and I was interested in the clothing for one of my sons, but something held me a little back -- the cute shirt was ever so slightly -- girly. The collection includes a dusty pink tone. I realized later that this collection was positioned on the edge of the boys clothing area -- near bordering the girls area. This clothing is designed to be in-between. I Googled Target to see what's up with gender neutrality and saw that a while ago, the removed the boys and girls signs from their toys and home goods sections. Now gender bending is visible in the children's clothing area. Subtle, but this is totally planned and conscious. Examples: https://www.target.com/p/boys-floral-short-sleeve-t-shirt-art-class-153-heather-gray/-/A-52721631#lnk=sametab https://www.target.com/p/boys-short-sleeve-dip-dye-t-shirt-art-class-153-water-violet/-/A-52727367#lnk=sametab I'm totally wondering how this particular collection will sell, but there's no doubt about the trend.

Scouting Heritage ranks as #82 on the list of merit badge popularity from 2016, with about 5,000 badges earned in a year. (Compare that to the 75,000 first aid merit badges earned.) Good for people interested in Scouting history, but it's not vitally important information to the program. If we say Scouting is not all about the Eagle rank, then it's not all about Eagle scout history. https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2017/03/23/2016-merit-badge-rankings-unveiled-these-were-the-most-and-least-popular/

I don't know or particularly care who the first Eagle was or who the first female Eagle will be. This is small stuff.

First off, thank you for helping your troop. They need a Treasurer and you will be fine! It's OK. I'll tell you exactly what I think -- I think you can come up with the system that works best for you. You do not have to use QuickBooks. You just need the Scout bank records and a register and you can record things the way you want. There are online, cloud-based softwares available if that's what you want, or you could use a Google spreadsheet. Quickbooks has an online subscription for $7/mo, and maybe that is affordable or maybe not. Ask the last Treasurer what the heck is up with those checks and cash. Hunt them down for answers. Were they doing something like mobile deposits? I have not been a Treasurer, but I know you can do this. Take it one step at a time and set it up in the way that makes the most sense for you. Do your best. It will be OK. Also don't forget to take the committee member training on my.scouting.org, when you can get through it -- it's a lot of training but you can do it in small chunks.

Sounds like the newest members are sisters of current scouts. Maybe they'll bring in some friends to build up their dens. Best wishes, girls.

Here they just call it the Y and I suspect the intent was to lose the C.

In his first year, my son came back from camp and he enjoyed Exploding Kittens. We are also into playing Munchkin recently.

I realize this topic is not pulling people in, but thought I'd follow-up with a breakdown of the kids at my son's practice last night. Two teams practicing, approximately 26 kids -- that's 22 boys and 4 girls. I noticed that the girls stuck together for the partner practices, so things like skating around and passing a puck back and forth. Also when they were lined up to do some drills the girls were sticking together. However, I noticed my son having a brief chit chat with a female player. Overall, the coaches kept the kids very busy with their practice. These are squirts, ages 9 and 10.

I think this is an absolutely wonderful story. A young person with an interest in teaching is volunteering and helping the BSA with guiding younger children, with mutual benefit. Looking at the photo, she is not wearing a uniform, and so I'm taking this as a -- here's a teen who is helping out at meetings and at camp. That is wonderful. And I'm glad she is recognized for it. Not being local, I guess I'll trust the locals to understand and follow BSA policies correctly. As for the title den leader, I'm assuming the reporter messed up.

So sorry about your crew and crew member, qwazse.

Wow, that is very sad for the kids and adults. Side note: doesn't that cardboard classic sledding sound like fun? Wonderful idea. It's hard to imagine being a Pack that receives a trailer and a pinewood derby track from a disbanded unit, then getting a call from the unit who is re-forming and wants their stuff back, not to give it back to them? I feel bad that their pack got dragged into this mess. People need to talk to each other to work these things out. It sounds like their relationships are so bad that there's no communication at all. Wouldn't the Scout Executive ultimately own this mess, after the first chartered organization surrendered the property?

I think it's right to take a non-confrontational, non-intimidating, one small suggestion at a time approach. It will take a lot of patience. While on the one hand, my family is newer (1.5 yeas) to Boy Scouting -- my kids are growing up right now and a year is a long time for them! So I am very impatient in that sense. That said, I can focus on our family and our family life moreso than Troop life. Our Scoutmaster, who I think is doing a nice job overall, is leaving for a new job in another state, so the baton will be passed to a new Scoutmaster almost immediately. I will try to mention getting trained for the position, without sounding nagging about it. The new SM will really need training, no experience as an ASM, but is a parent to one of the older boys in the Troop. He will be helped by our new CC who was a good Scoutmaster, maybe a little hands on and schedule focused but still a good person and someone who embodies the Scout Law. Things could be worse. I need to think of how I can be helpful, and that's mostly staying out of their way, but I am considering making a few comments at the next meeting about a) establishing some Patrol funds, so the patrols can have stuff to make their own flags for Klondike, and so the patrols can have some funds for their patrol activities. I want to bring up the concept of patrol activities as a possibility for the Troop to consider. That's actually a pretty big thing right there. I will also bring up training for the new SM, and I will also inquire about Annual Planning, which has been adult programmed, and I brought up the topic of having scouts have involvement about 3 months ago -- didn't go over well with some folks but others were listening and, I think, curious. They said that their adult led annual planning meeting took 5 hours -- Good Heavens!!! ROTFL. No meeting should take 5 hours, but I have to be careful not to rock ze boat too much. The other ideas I was going to promote was that the boys in the patrols should have a voice in picking up boys from the NSP when they shift, and to start using the Outdoor Ethics Guide position and consider a JASM. That's way too much stuff, or is it?? What would be the best, nicest, least-intimidating thing to start with? Does that sound like too big of an agenda? I could try to break it down and go slower.