asichacker

I prefer my camping in something motorized and 30 feet long! Now that's camping! LOL TBPA, I don't trust this troop enough to get good feeling about them Winter Camping.(This message has been edited by asichacker)

Waiver? Optional helmet? Really? I will definitely be watching my SM's and ASM's a lot closer now...to heck with the Winter Camping and Rafting trip now... A standard bike helmet is not appropriate safety gear for snowboarding in particular, insufficient protection of the upper vertebrae from a backward fall, the most common fall in snowboarding....use a skateboarding-style helmet instead. Wristguards a should also be considered a must for snowboarding....nothing quite as fun as double wrist fractures for growth plate fractures to ruin your next 3-4 months.

BAD CAMP! All caps, italics, bold and underscored. Last summer they had an intestinal bug for at least 4 weeks, the week my stepson was there and 3 weeks prior. Local health officials couldn't locate the source, but they would not close the camp either. My guess, how about the leach field between the mess hall and the pool. I'm REALLY glad he's not able to go this year. The Troop moved the camp two weeks farther into the summer...and he has to travel cross country to spend the summer with his Dad.

Selecting a troop appears to be a really big challenge. When my stepson's CS den of 6 boys bridged, they went to about 8 troops in the area. Only 1 was even remotely organized and well run. The group of 6 is now 3. Two didn't bother to bridge and one dropped out after 2 meetings.

Thanks for the many replies. I've taken all of this in stride. Unfortunately, I really don't see any improvement in the way the organization operates. The confidence that others in the thread said I would see, never materialized. Someone asked if I camped....no, not since I was a kid...my idea of camping at my age involves something motorized and 30 feet long! LOL (This message has been edited by asichacker)

Thanks to all for the comments. I wish I really knew what to do here...but at best I think the most I can do is sit down and shut up. Watching these meetings and today's start of camping was just too chaotic for be to see it as useful. Thanks again for all the advice...

All I know for certain is that I'll be spending a small fortune on a constant flow of uniforms that get outgrown every year. Is it really necessary to wear the Class A at every evening dinner during a Scout Camp? That will be one messy uniform by the end of the week.

Regarding changing troops... that's really not my call to make. If SS (StepSon) is happy there with the boys, I certainly wouldn't make him change troops because of what I think. And to be honest, the troop he's in is the best of what my wife and SS could find apparently. "Of course they may just be a bunch of clannish jerks. Scouting does have a propensity to create lots of little Ol' Boys Clubs which are hard to break into." Yeah, I suppose that's a possibility as well. I haven't really analyzed it from that side. But I have noticed that when I introduce myself as the Step-Dad that 99% of the time the conversation ends with a kind of "your not needed here" eyeroll look. "Hovering parent" ... That would be the first time I'd ever been accused of that one. I guess I could refer to my baseball coaching rule #1.... Players play, Coaches coach, Parents parent. I strictly observe at the meetings. I've been to a couple of troop meetings so far. Quite frankly, they are total chaos. A couple of way to soft-spoken teens holding up two fingers trying to control about 30 boys that are 99% out of control. If any school classroom ran the way those meetings do, there would be parent uprising. Well, I have to finish tagging equipment for the camping trip today....

Thanks for the feedback. Clearly, it was a different era back when you and I were growing up. I do remember asking about Scouts when I was a kid, but it wasn't something we could financially afford. In general, step-parents are NOT legal guardians of their step children, so it sounds like there's a problem with my participation. Thanks anyway.

I'll see if I can answers everyone's questions. Bio-Dad lives many states away and was never involved in Scouting with his son. So, it is not a issue of conflicts between the three parents. Volunteering....well actually I have during the Cub Scout phase overseeing a couple of projects for patches or belt-loops (I don't know which), step-son has only been a Boy Scout for a few months. Wife's Involvement - She is very involved already, was before in Cub Scouts as well. Not certain what her position is now. Wish I could be more positive, but I don't see any positives. I think he would be far better off being more involved in school groups than what he'll get from Scouting.

OK, so I'm a "scouting outsider". Which means I have a stepson in scouting, but I don't really participate because a) I get the impression that step-parents are unwelcome in the Scouting crowd, and b) I haven't liked camping/fishing/hiking since I was a kid; so there is basically no place for me. Personally, I think there is a huge over-emphasis on the whole uniform. Unless the troop is on a parade or some public function, the uniform seems much ado about nothing. Of course the expect that there are dozens of rules and regs in the scout manual, but doe sit really matter for a meeting? Confused in AZ.

I'm the stepdad of a 1st year Boy Scout. For the past three years, I've watched some, participate some with his scout meetings, pinewood derby, etc. I also coach youth baseball one season a year (we have three here in Arizona), so I have a fair amount of experience with groups of kids and parents. One thing I've definitely noticed in both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, is that step-parents are definitely not welcome at any of the functions. I go to them because I want to support my stepson, just as I support my own kids, but yeesh these people need to lighten up a bit. If I treated my team parents they way I've been treated, I'd not be allowed to coach again. At this point I don't see much benefit to Scouting, outside of social group. Lots of hokie antics and pseudo-life lessons. And lots of expensive uniforms/camps/activites all year round and not much benefit. I hope I'm missing something, otherwise it'll be a long 6 more years of Scouting. Confused in AZ.