wolf without leader

[Slack-jawed Troglodyte 10]

jandemama,

 

I empathize with you.

 

FWIW, my experience as a "Den Mother" began in Tigers. Our pack had trouble recruiting and retaining leaders, so we wound up with an initial group of 11. No problem, very manageable as a parent was part of each den meeting/activity. They were all dads, too. My wife and another dad served as assistant leaders so we had plenty of help.

 

It grew little from there. When the den reached 12 Scouts by Bear (and 14 at Webelos I), we recruited another dad as a third assistant. And fortunately, all the dads stayed with the program thru Webelos II. They enjoyed the program, too, and we put all of them to work at each meeting and trip.

 

While not ideal if you have the help, a den of 14 is manageable. You need the help, even if it is "one-off's": get a parent or two to arrange/plan/execute one activity; get another parent to do likewise. The hard part is to get the first commitment but after getting one successful "one-off little" job it encouraged a few others to make the effort.

 

It worked for us. YMMV Good luck.

[Slack-jawed Troglodyte 10]

jandemama,

 

I empathize with you.

 

FWIW, my experience as a "Den Mother" began in Tigers. Our pack had trouble recruiting and retaining leaders, so we wound up with an initial group of 11. No problem, very manageable as a parent was part of each den meeting/activity. They were all dads, too. My wife and another dad served as assistant leaders so we had plenty of help.

 

It grew little from there. When the den reached 12 Scouts by Bear (and 14 at Webelos I), we recruited another dad as a third assistant. And fortunately, all the dads stayed with the program thru Webelos II. They enjoyed the program, too, and we put all of them to work at each meeting and trip.

 

While not ideal if you have the help, a den of 14 is manageable. You need the help, even if it is "one-off's": get a parent or two to arrange/plan/execute one activity; get another parent to do likewise. The hard part is to get the first commitment but after getting one successful "one-off little" job it encouraged a few others to make the effort.

 

It worked for us. YMMV Good luck.