AnnLaurelB

As a new CM, this is encouraging to me. Not that we lose kids, but that if we know in our hearts that we are providing the best quality program that we can provide, then we have done our job. I was my son's Tiger leader, and there were only 3 of them. One kid quit halfway through because he comes from a tag-team each-week-switch dual-household. Somehow between the two parents, they could never remember from week to week that Cub Scouts was on Monday night, EVERY week. It wasn't us. It was their life situation. But man! I hated that he dropped out! The other kid made it through Tigers because his grandma brought him when the mom flaked. This year, she told her daughter, "No. You need to do this with him." But the mom wouldn't so we lost him. Again, not our fault. I'm running this thing the way I would run activities on a cruise ship (I often say I'm the TourGuide/CruiseDirector/RingMaster). You can show up and have fun, but if you don't that's okay, too. We can't force people to participate.

@ Pchadbo-- It's been too long a day to look up "interesting personalities" right now, but maybe tomorrow with a strong cup of coffee on hand...I'll take a look at that. :0) @ SeattleP-- Good questions. 1) Our Scout Exec is working on getting me a date for a recruiting night; the elementary principal (new gal) is a very odd duck. But yes, it's in the works! A recruiting night, after all, is how my son and I came to Cub Scouting to begin with! 2) Our Committee is rather (read: exceedingly) hands-OFF; I have planned EVERY activity since taking over as CM. We have had an AWESOME year, iidssm, DESPITE my having to pull Committee teeth. Our spring calendar is chock-full, and ALL Scouts will be earning rank (except for the one kid who JUST joined). I have also submitted a summer activity calendar (no Den or Pack meetings per se, but an outing about every 2 weeks). 3) We have never, EVER been fully staffed. I'm the Cubmaster, but also the Wolf leader (my son's Den). Every parent "just can't commit" to more than showing up. They DO show up and help, but they WON'T register. I am doing fine with planning 3 Wolf meetings and 1 Pack meeting a month. But I wish my son had a separate Den leader. The Bears have no leader; the two parents (both of whom refuse to "be" the leader) are limping their boys through the Bear book. The Webelos are doing fine, and actually have a leader who doesn't wear another hat. Our Committee Chair has left; she's the Children's minister and is retiring. The men on the Committee only let their names be put on there to get the Charter. They're really not interested in doing any actual legwork. None of them have Scouts in the program. As I said, I'm in a bind. It's about a one-woman show right now, and we're having a lot of fun, but if we grow (and I hope we do!) I don't know how much longer I can keep it up. I'd like to JUST be the Cubmaster or JUST the Wolf (soon Bear) leader.

Thanks! We've had a pretty fun year; I'm really enjoying the Cubmaster role. I tell the parents that I'm the Tour Guide/Ring Master/Cruise Director. :0) We're really in a bind right now with our Committee; I joined specifically to post about it and see if anyone has any suggestions! I'll put that up separately... Thanks again for the welcome. I look forward to throwing a few logs on the fire!

Hi; my name is Laurel, and I'm just finishing up my first year as Cubmaster of my son's Pack. I was his Tiger leader last year simply because no other 1st graders signed up when we did. Then about 3/4 of the way through our Tiger year, the then-Cubmaster had to ...step down. The Committee asked me if I'd fill in, and I've been doing it ever since. I said that I'd do it as long as I'm having fun, and so far, I am! I find myself peppering a distant friend about Cub Scout stuff (she was her son's Den leader from Tiger through Webs and he just bridged in Feb). I'm happy to find a forum for discussion about Scout leader stuff!