WisconsinMomma

I am not sure why but it seems to have been planned that way, perhaps by the committee chair we had two people ago.

I suppose that an increase in one fee is not that bad. Then again, I just purchased an entire uniform, plus mess kit, water bottle and scout book for about $200. But then still you are in for less than $300 and looking at any youth sport or class it can get expensive fast. Example: I have a hockey player and that is not even the most expensive sport.

One of the things the CC wants to figure out is if this is just the former SM or if there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction among a small group of the parents. It was such a rough year. Our CC is new, our SM is new, our ASMs are new, our Advancement Chair and Activities Chair are also new to their roles. It's a near total turnover of leadership. All these new people are pitching in and helping. In the Troop, Scoutmasters have had short terms of service, averaging maybe 2 years? My oldest already had 3 Scoutmasters before his dad in his first 6 years. Through that, he was able to work

Starting in the SM role under Covid was challenging for him and the troop activity almost ground to a halt in the Summer/Fall of 2020. I thank God that the troop was able to start meeting outside again in Spring 2021. I personally think that it was very good for kids to have activity again. Virtual meetings were very hard but the kids were getting pretty darn good with working in Zoom meetings and patrol breakout rooms. We are now back in person outside while the weather is nice, and having meetings outside at a park shelter is extremely nice (when the weather is good). Anyway, I thi

Thanks everyone. My husband on the one hand says that he is ok and it's not a big deal, and on the other hand, he's confused and hurt. Our CC has very good people skills so hopefully she can help navigate this one. It also feels like the loss of a relationship as my husband is not eager to interact with the former SM after this and that's too bad. The former SM did a fine job and is good with kids and the abrupt criticism coming from them is sad. There was a whole set of famiiles whose chidren have all grown up and moved on and most of those parents ceased their roles in the last two year

My husband is a new scoutmaster who finished his first year. He was an ASM for 5 years prior. An event was cancelled because of schedule conflicts and lack of volunteers, only one kid was signed up. My husband received two angry texts from the former scoutmasters this morning criticiizing him for it. Big picture, the Troop has made it through a rough pandemic year, had many virtual meetings, had some good outings and is developing two young leaders as SPL and ASPL. Most of the troop is 14 and under, with two 16 year olds. They have a good participation level overall and for summer ca

Thanks. Kiddo #1 is 16.5. He has a good opportunity to make it, he is pretty excited about his Eagle idea, but there is a lot to take care of and get in order, one piece at a time.

Small update in case anyone is interested. He has decided on pitching a bluebird house building project to the local nature center. He has volunteered with bird watching and nature observers at this location, who are very enthusiastic. He has the name of the naturalist at the center and needs to make contact. He has an Eagle coach (who is new as an eagle coach but is an eagle scout). Little bit by bit. He also finished one of the needed merit badges (Cit in Comm). Has 2 more Eagle MBs lined up for summer camp (Cooking and Personal Ftness). Completion of those should put him at 9 badge

Covid has given kids more time to work on stuff. They need things to avoid the boredom! I know a kid who took his Covid downtime and applied it to working on Eagle.

Our Troop re-stated our outdoor program last month with a day of outdoor cooking. We are in the middle of a second outing this month with an outing focused on rank advancement (older scouts teach newer scouts). I am thrilled that the Scouts are meeting in person to do Scout stuf. We also had a hasty and chilly outdoor court of honor and a few outdoor meetings last fall before it got cold and dark and the Troop switched to Zoom. Our Troop currently wears masks at outdoor outings. We have a lot of group interaction. I am thinking about asking for masks optional soon at a parent commit

My husband is the Scoutmaster now an I am an assistant Scoutmaster. I am a lazy ASM so far and am still working on getting up to speed, and I am Mom first. I have other obligations and do not make all the meetings, etc. But what I can give is a set of extra hands at outings. I have enough background from Cub Scouts and Wood Badge to know a bit. Out of our three kids, one likes Scouts and is doing well. The other two are struggling and I wonder if we should let them go. But the oldest is a Life Scout who could make Eagle if he works hard in the next 1.75 years. The young one is 12 and ha

Wow, time is flying. Oldest, who is now just over 16 years old, is getting ready to start his Eagle project (with a little prodding from Mom, who is just pointing out that these things should not wait until the last minute). Oldest still has several merit badges to work on as well, but he's getting there, bit by bit. He has an idea -- he wants to build a bridge. This will likely translate into building a boardwalk for either the local nature center or the school forest, and he will reach out to those organizations to see if they might need anything like that for their trails. If that is

Our troop seems to have had shorter, 1 to 2 year terms for Scoutmasters.

My spouse recently started in SM position. The dilemma is that the SPL and ASPL are both very concerned about COVID and do not want to have meetings. It sounds like the objections are -- can't meet in person, can't meet outside, it's getting cold, Zoom meetings don't work. So, there is no momentum at this point and my spouse wants to honor youth leadership but not have troop life grind to a halt. The Troop skipped summer camp due to COVID fears. They've attempted small patrol meetings in a park, and they had a very brief outdoor court of honor. But, it is very hard when the youth lea

I just came home from a two night Pack overnighter at the council camp. We were in cabins. Council will tell us if this is not approved, but since we are at a council camp, I am sure that these things are A-OK. We want our council camp facilities to be used for Scouts, they are set up very well for Cubs and the kids have a great time.

Recognize, praise and thank your volunteers often. Try not to defuse any drama and get people working together as much as possible. And have fun.

Most sex offenders are male. There are female sex offenders too, but the majority of abusers are men. Scouting needs leaders, male and female. Two-deep leadership and Youth Protection are VERY important, and parents should have full visibility into the program any time / every time they want it. It takes a village to keep kids safe.

This is tough. I left a cub leadership role last year because a newer leader was a perfectionist who did not appreciate that others are volunteering and who make mistakes. I retired and chose to let a younger group lead and now it is in their hands. Like you my youngest is going to Boy Scouts. If i had to do it again I would have had.l a private conversation with her about realistic expectations for a volunteer group with various personalities. I was worn out and decided to go. In our case, I had just given a lot of work for a camp weekend and then felt reamed out in front

My oldest just did his Ordeal and they made some announcements about upcoming activities. There are three regions in our council. One region is having an ice cream social, and I think another is having a lock-in. (fun stuff) But two of the regions are looking for leadership people. We were not expecting our oldest to get invited to OA, but on the other hand, he's becoming a stronger camper and person as he is getting older and more experienced. Top kid in the troop? Nope, but he's making his way, little bit by little bit.

My husband and two older sons, ages 14 and 13, were at Ma Ka Ja Wan on the night of the storm. Their Troop sheltered in their vehicles in the East camp. They were lucky to have brought their vehicles to camp and were starting to pack things for Saturday departure because the storm was coming in. Trees fell all over and around the vehicles, and the Troop evacuated on Saturday, going across a lake to where there was road access and our Troop leaders had send up 4 more vehicles with other family members to pick up the boys. Nearly all the gear was left behind, along with all the vehicles. Le

I bought my two sons some Crocs (closed toe but holey) today for camp wear, along with sneakers/hikers. Do you think these are closed-toe enough? This is a last-minute question, I can return them to the store or send them up to camp. We'll make our best guess. I can go exchange for non-hole Crocs as well. Thanks!

It's already been said, but I would just emphasize that those 90-day tracking merit badges take a while and should be planned for. Also leave some time for false starts if a Scout gets off track with the tracking and needs to regroup.