funscout

Last summer, our Day Camp was switched to a location about 45 minutes from our home. Previously, it had been less than 10 minutes away. Since I was planning on driving and staying every day, I took 4 other Cub Scouts in addition to mine. I had thought the 45 minute drive was going to be tedious, but those 5 boys kept me (and each other) entertained the whole time. As a matter of fact, when one mom asked her son what his favorite part of day camp was, he said it was the DRIVE to and from, because the other boys (my son in particular) were so funny and entertaining! I"m not sure what it says about me that I was so easily amused by 9 year old boys' humor?!

Gern, Thanks for the post from someone who lives this. You are an entertaining writer! You are fortunate that your spouse is so supportive. I could learn something from her! My husband has joked about wanting to go on Ritalin because he would LIKE the side effect of curbed appetite. This is a problem for my 9 year old son. I make sure he has a good breakfast, and a snack ready for when he gets home, because he hardly eats any lunch at all. He does continue to gain weight, and, while on the thin side, is still within normal limits for his height (which is quite tall for his age.) He also isn't sleepy until about 10:00 or 11:00 at night. For this reason, I let him sleep in as long as possible, and drive him to school instead of putting him on the bus. I wouldn't like those side effects, either. But, the side effects are by far the lesser of 2 evils, as I'm afraid he would have ended up in a Behavior Disordered classroom, without the Ritalin. Younger son was suspended one day, as a kindergartner, spent MUCH time in the principal's office and if he hadn't had such a wonderful teacher, would have been hated by his classmates. This was all before Ritalin. I know medication isn't for everyone, but in our case, it is a life saver.

My sons were diagnosed by a psychologist who specializes in ADD/ADHD. Younger son gets his Ritalin from his pediatrician. Younger son also works with the school counselor as well as the psychologist, because he has anger problems as well. I like your idea of making an appointment for my husband and then telling him to go. I think he'd do that.

We've talked about kids with disabilities, but how about the adult leaders? My husband most likely has Attention Deficit Disorder. Our older son has been tested and is considered borderline ADD. Our younger son is on Ritalin for ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity). The Ritalin has had a highly positive effect on Younger Son's life. My husband jokes about going on Ritalin, but never seriously considers going in to be tested. Here are a couple examples of how his attention problems affect our daily lives: Just this morning, hubby and older son were getting ready to go help out at our CO's pancake breakfast fundraiser. Yesterday, Hubby and I discussed the schedule, of how we were going to get to church and the breakfast. We also discussed the fact that Hubby needed to pick up another scout (whom we help out a lot, since his dad is a widower who has 2 younger boys.) This morning I encouraged Hubby and Son to hurry, since OtherScout was waiting for them. Not 5 minutes later, Hubby asked me, "Do I need to pick up OtherScout?" At first, I thought he was teasing me, but he seriously didn't know! One evening, I was planning to run errands that would put me back home after the boys were in bed. I made sure Hubby was looking directly at me, and felt confident he was paying attention, when I reminded him, "Remember to have Son do 1 puff of his green inhaler, followed by 2 puffs of his brown inhaler." This is something Son had been doing EVERY night for over a year. Just before I left, Hubby asked, "Does Son need to do inhalers tonight?" Not, "which inhalers, or how many puffs," but does he even have to do them?! Again, I thought Hubby was teasing me, but he really didn't know. These are but two examples of many that happen daily. Does anyone have suggestions on how to get Hubby to go in for testing? Does anyone else live with a spouse with ADD? I have learned to WRITE down the important things, since Hubby's listening skills are poor. Before anyone suggests getting his hearing tested, that has been done. When I used to work as a school speech-language pathologist, I had access to a portable audiometer. I brought it home one evening and tested Hubby's hearing. I was absolutely shocked that his hearing was well within normal limits!

Since the Lion program appears to be run exactly like the original Tiger program, I'm wondering if the Tigers will no longer have to have a parent in attendance at scout activities.

I'm glad you brought up this problem. It does need attention right away. My son knows of Middle school boys who have cell phones and have received provocative pictures of girls. Some of are girls they know, and some are of girls from who knows where. I personally don't see the need for Middle School (and younger) kids to have cell phones. Hopefully parents will at least make sure their child's phone is NOT a camera phone. I think you can still get phones without the camera option. And, as you said, Eammon, parents need to talk to their kids about the danger of e-mailing pictures.

I think today's kids' inactivity is due in part to the popularity of video games/computers. Also, with most families having both parents working, most kids are either at a sitter after school, or (if old enough) home alone, with instructions not to leave the house. The kids who are home with a non-working (or 3rd shift working) parent, don't have friends home to play with, so they tend to choose solitary activities such as T.V., video games, or computer. I do agree, though, that many of today's kids don't know how to have fun without an activity being scheduled for them. Today my boys came home from a bike ride with their bikes covered in mud! My first reaction was to be upset with them, but my husband smiled and said, "It looks like you guys had fun!" He was right. The bikes could be cleaned up, and I was glad that they'd had a fun adventure instead of sitting in front of an electronic form of entertainment.

t158sm: I completely agree with you that 4 practices a week is WAY too much for these young kids. As I mentioned in a different thread, however, no one listens to me! I signed my 4th grader up for a basketball league that met for only 6 weeks, and that consisted of 2 (yes, a total of 2) practices and 4 games, all of which took place on 6 consecutive Saturdays. He could have been in the other league that practiced 4 times a WEEK, in addition to games, but before I could tell him "No", he said, "I don't want to do that league because they have too many practices." Smart kid!

Until I read this thread, I had no idea about the camo issue. It's a good thing the boys in my Webelos den were wearing their uniform shirts and not wearing camo pants when we got "stopped" by the police while on a hike. Apparently complaints had come in about juvenile delinquents causing trouble along this trail the day before, so the police were keeping watch. We were nervous at first as the policeman approached us with a serious look on his face, but when he got closer, he broke out into a smile, and said, "Oh, you guys are scouts!" He explained about the recent problems, and then chatted with us about the scout program. He then let the boys sit in his police car and try out the siren. Our scout uniforms saved us from a potentially difficult situation!

My school district pushes sports early and often. Every year, our second year Weblelos are faced with a choice between football and scouts. 5th graders can start playing TACKLE football, and we end up either permanently losing some Web. 2s, or temporarily losing them. Practices are Mon.-Thurs. from 4:00-6:00, which only leaves time for dinner and homework. Some years, the Web. 2 den suspends meetings until football season is over. As a Web. 1 DL, I've run into problems with basketball. One league had the 4th grade boys practicing 4 days a week, just like football. I hated to lose my scouts, so I switched to only 2 den meetings a month (1 1/2 hours each), instead of 3 - one hour meetings. One of those meetings is on a Sunday afternoon, so the basketball players could make at least one den meeting a month. I may have to have all my den meetings on Sun. afternoons next year. Friday nights are out, due to games, Saturdays are out, for the same reason. My husband isn't crazy about giving up our Family time to accomodate the "sport-scouts," but nothing else seems to work. Does anyone else have a similar situation?

Our church newsletter has a poem by Maya Angelou in it this month and it is appropriate to this thread: When I say... "I am a Christian", I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'." I'm whispering "I was lost, now I'm found and forgiven." When I say... "I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide." When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on. When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess. When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect, my flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it. When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartaches so I call upon His name. When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou; I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace somehow!

Rooster 7: You bring up a good point about someone intentionally trying to lead others in the church astray. I still believe, however, that we owe it to the sinning person to pray for him, rather than to just turn him away. If someone is rude and disruptive during church services, then it would be unfair to the rest of the congregation to allow that person to stay. I would hope, however, that the pastor would make the effort to arrange an individual meeting with this person. Gern: Anyone can SAY they are damning you to Hell, but no human can actually DO that to someone else. Only YOU can do that to yourself. Since we Christians believe that a person must accept Jesus Christ as their personal saviour in order to go to Heaven, of course we would try to teach others in order to save them. Unfortunately, many "Christians" do this in an offensive way.

Although my family doesn't watch much T.V., my father could rival SR540Beaver for T.V. addiction. He has T.V.s on in more than one room at a time, so as he walks from room to room, he doesn't miss anything. My parents have a rustic cabin in a very woodsy setting, and in order to get my Dad to spend more than a weekend at a time up there, my Mom bought him a sattelite dish. It's funny to watch them try to get a signal after the wind has moved the dish. Mom is in the cabin with a walkie talkie and Dad is down the hill, with a walkie talkie, at the beach adjusting the sattelite dish! A few years ago my husband won a trip for 2 to Mexico, We temporarily got cable so my Dad wouldn't go crazy while he and Mom babysat the kids for a week.

I found out more info. about the Web. 2 who was bored at the Troop Elections meeting and now doesn't want to join. His Dad was upset that Jr. will not be able to go on the High Adventure trip this summer. I guess they are going to look for a troop that allows brand new scouts (at only 10 or 11 years old!) to go on High Adventure trips. Also, this same scout has worked on Boy scout requirements ahead of time and Dad expects them to count when he joins as a Boy Scout. I imagine he wasn't happy to hear that you have to be a registered Boy Scout to get signed off for Boy Scout requirements. It's too bad Dad is pushing the son so hard when he hasn't even started Boy Scouts yet! I wonder how long the kid will last in scouts?!

Our Council offers a family resident camp (choice of two different weekends) and Webelos resident camp. Family camp is for whole families, but Webelos camp is only for Webelos and parents/leaders. Our day camp used to always have a Tot Lot where younger siblings (and cub age sisters) could stay while Brother and Parent were in a den. The Tot Lot offered crafts, fishing, games, and sprinkler or wading pool time. The Tot Lot couldn't do archery or BB, probably due to the young ages of most of them, and to the full attendance of cubs. The Tot Lot was considered a den and they lined up for Flag ceremonies, came up with a den chant, and participated in skits at the end of the week. The Tots got to make a leather totem just like the cubs, and they earned beads for the activities through out the week. Last year we didn't have Tot Lot and we had some disappointed siblings and parents who couldn't attend without a place for the other kids to go.

Gwd-scouter: Someday my mother-in-law and your Southern Baptist acquaintances will be surprised to see us join them in Heaven! LOL

Since we don't have cable T.V. or sattelite, my family doesn't watch much T.V. We seldom go to movies, but if we do, it's always a matinee. Since I quit my full time job, we have to pinch pennies, but we do occasionally rent movies. We take our kids to our local community center every Friday night for basketball, dodgeball or swimming. If we didn't do that, then the boys would just want to play video games. (They have to earn their own money for the games, or wait for birthdays or Christmas for new games.) I only know of one other family who does not have sattelite or cable T.V. Are there any more of you out there?

Bobanon, I was also raised Presbyterian. Since I don't watch televangelists I had no idea that Pat Robertson considered me a non-Christian! I guess I have a double whammy against me since I've been both Presbyterian AND Methodist! I don't want to offend any Catholics, but my mother-in-law thinks my boys and I are not going to Heaven since we are not Catholic. My husband attends church with us, but has retained his Catholic membership, so I guess he can still get into Heaven according to her view! I love my mother-in-law and have learned not to discuss religion with her, and that I can never change her views. I also know that most Catholics do not think like her today. Prairie_Scouter: A true Christian would never turn away a fellow human. Although Christians oppose the practice of homosexuality, we should never reject a Homosexual in our church. We are taught that you can hate the sin, but should still love the sinner. Besides, it doesn't make sense to turn away those who don't live up to the Christian ideals. After all, what is church for? It is to allow a fellowship with each other and with God, in order that we can HELP each other grow spiritually. It makes me angry when I see people do bad things and call it Christian. I'm sure there are plenty of TRUE Muslims out there who are also angry when they see Muslim extremists promoting hate and terror.

Bobanon, I was also raised Presbyterian. Since I don't watch televangelists I had no idea that Pat Robertson considered me a non-Christian! I guess I have a double whammy against me since I've been both Presbyterian AND Methodist! I don't want to offend any Catholics, but my mother-in-law thinks my boys and I are not going to Heaven since we are not Catholic. My husband attends church with us, but has retained his Catholic membership, so I guess he can still get into Heaven according to her view! I love my mother-in-law and have learned not to discuss religion with her, and that I can never change her views. I also know that most Catholics do not think like her today. Prairie_Scouter: A true Christian would never turn away a fellow human. Although Christians oppose the practice of homosexuality, we should never reject a Homosexual in our church. We are taught that you can hate the sin, but should still love the sinner. Besides, it doesn't make sense to turn away those who don't live up to the Christian ideals. After all, what is church for? It is to allow a fellowship with each other and with God, in order that we can HELP each other grow spiritually. It makes me angry when I see people do bad things and call it Christian. I'm sure there are plenty of TRUE Muslims out there who are also angry when they see Muslim extremists promoting hate and terror.

Brian, I think that if you do a "pop-in" visit, you should do it without your son, unless you know for sure what is on the agenda. I just heard that a Web. 2 "popped in" to our troop's meeting last week and he was so bored that he doesn't want to join, now. It's too bad his Dad brought him on that night, because it was troop election night, and the patrols were busy with that. I wasn't at the meeting, so I don't know if they had something for this boy to do, but he's going to miss out on a fun troop just because of a poorly planned visit. Also, please remember that BOYS are leading the troop, and they are the ones who have to suddenly figure out something for the surprise Webelos to do. I agree with Oak Tree that two years is a long time to wait to be a Boy Scout. That's another reason why I'm not recommending that my Web. 1 scouts make a visit this year. They've got enough on their plate right now just trying to do all the Webelos activities. That's not to say you shouldn't visit on your own, though. As suggested in another thread, Cub Scouting is more than just preparing a boy to become a Boy Scout, so think about how much you want to push the Boy Scout stuff with your son when he still has 2 years to wait. I know our troop doesn't put on a "special" meeting when they know Webelos are visiting. They just include them in what ever has already been planned. If a troop puts on an extra special meeting just to get boys to join, then they will end up with a high drop out rate soon after crossover. This reminds me of sorority rush. I know some girls (quiet, conservative Christians) who dropped out on Pledge Night, because the nice "tea party" atmosphere that they encountered during Rush Week was suddenly changed into a wild party atmosphere on Pledge Night. I hope troops don't do a "bait and switch" with Webelos!

Pint, I'm glad you posted the answers to the listening quiz, because I only got 5 of the 9 questions correct! I guess I'd better work on my reading (and reasoning) skills!

One time at Camporee, a visiting Webelos 2 scout had to leave in the middle of the night because he had severe headaches and the shakes from caffeine withdrawal! I guess his Mom should have brought his daily dose of Pepsi for him, or better yet, started weaning him off the stuff!

Our Pack seems to have better recruitment in the Spring, than in the Fall, but we still do both. When new scouts sign up at the May Round-up, they are given a schedule of our Pack's summer events (we plan one for each month) as well as council sponsored activities. Since the new scouts get to experience really fun activities all summer, they are definitely "hooked" by the time the school year starts back up. Also, when boys sign up in the Spring, they have all summer to work on rank advancement and belt loops. This means that the new scouts are no longer left out when "old" scouts get awards at the September Pack Meeting. Another benefit to Spring recruitment, is that we have found an easier time getting a parent to volunteer as den leader since they've been involved with scouting for a few months already.

A few years ago, our Web. 2 den leader chose to hold the AOL ceremony in January, when it became apparent that all the boys would have finished the requirements by then. This DL felt that the AOL ceremony was sometimes "lost" during all the Blue and Gold goings on. Personally, I prefer to have AOL at the Blue and Gold, since that's the one pack meeting where extra relatives make an effort to attend.

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