pixiewife

My greatest memory is not my sons' actual crossover. However, at our very first Blue and gold banquet (when our pack does all of the AOL and crossovers) my son was a very new Wolf Scout. I didn't even know the first thing about Scouts. Well, the area Boy Scout troop was there to cross over the new scouts, and instead of just coming up to the stage, their Scoutmaster called them out in color guard style. My 8 year old's head snapped around, his eyes shining, and he said " I want to be an Eagle Scout!" I am very proud to say, that he has just turned 15, and will be doing his project this spring! ~Pixie PS~ We will be having my 2nd sons crossover in 2 weeks, I am WDL, and am really trying to make it special!

Thank you all so much for the great questions, and the insight that is gained from reading your questions, as well as the reasoning behind them. As for the rest of the details from my end, I will leave them unanswered, as this is the internet, and I have not vetted each of you! ;-) (That is meant as a joke about internet anonymity) Thanks so much!! ~Pixie

I am part of the troop committee, and we are in the process of selecting a new Scoutmaster. There are no hard feelings with the out going Scoutmaster, he is moving, and I'm sure will be involved in scouting in his new environment. There are 4 applicants for this position, all who have been Assistant Scoutmasters in our Troop. Some are Wood Badge trained, some are members of the O/A, some were scouts themselves, some were in the military, some have better personalities than others (as I am sure can be said for all of us!). I have been on campouts with each of them. The troop committee is holding interviews, and I am looking for specific questions to ask. I have some ideas, but want to know if there are any questions that you all think are imperative during this type of interview process. Thanks, ~Pixie

Hi everyone, Sometime last year my son and I read some ideas on here about a "capture the camp" style campout. The best way I can remember to describe it was a campout that was sort of like capture the flag. Two or more patrols go out to camp, and make their patrol camp where they want. Each patrol then spends their time at camp trying to locate, or "capture" the other patrols' camp and/or campers.Does this sound familiar to anyone? I tried to search for the old post , but have not had good luck, as I'm sure my details are sketchy. My son is currently ASPL, and would like to put this together for an older scout adventure this summer. Although I'm sure the boys can and will come up with their own ideas/rules for their campout, he would like something to start from, and asked me to try to find the information. Can anyone help who has done a similar camp? Thanks, ~Pixie

My boys wear them on their red vests, just as they do for pinewood derby or rocket derby medals (sold at scout shop). I utilize Youth Patriotism as a supplement to the program. I have come to look at it as invaluable, although NOT a replacement for the program. ~Pixie

Hi! As a Cub Scout den leader I have used both programs. I have not used Nation's and Trails since they supposedly underwent their changes. I implemented their program several years ago, and had no problem with them. More recently I have used the Youth Patriotism program, and love it. I like Youth Patriotism because it is such a larger program than Nations and Trails. I started this program with my Cubs as Wolf Scouts. They earned a medal that year, their Bear Year, and will earn the final two in their Webelos years. I have had nothing but good service with youth patriotism, and do fell that their program really adds to my overall Scout program. Hope This helps, ~Pixie

My family is involved with the foster care system, we currently have one foster child, but sometimes have two. This is in addition to the four biological children we have. Last year, when my son who is a Boy Scout was working on his Family Life Merit Badge, we as a family had to perform a service project. Well, it just so happened that Easter was about 2 months out, so we decided to have an Easter basket item drive. We live in a very small town, but through putting boxes up at various locations, and announcing it at Cub Scout pack meetings, and sending flyers out through the Elementary school, we were able to put together 23 Easter baskets for children in foster care. People donated items as well as money that allowed me to go out and purchase items. We had about the same number of baskets for boys as for girls, and we had baskets for infants, young children, mid range children, as well as teenagers. The foster care workers were so happy! And even though I of course didn't witness it, I know the children who received the baskets were happy as well. It was very worthwhile and satisfying to our entire family! YIS, ~Pixie

I'm not sure if it will work but I was able to get spray paint (dried) out of carpet and off of leather work boots by using Shaklee Basic H cleaning product. It is not available in stores, only by a Shaklee representative, but you could probably google it and find a rep in your area. Another idea is the magic eraser that you can find at the grocery store, never tried it on spray paint but it got, sharpie off of a hard wood floor among other things. HTH, ~Pixie

My Son sounds a lot like your son. My son does, however, have a legitimate knife collection. That said, he begged me for 6 months for a butterfly knife. He found them online, the boys in the troop told him about a knife store in an in-state tourist area that a lot of Scouts visit. He stared at them, he begged for one, he pleaded, he cajoled, he slipped the words "butterfly knife" into ANY conceivable sentence, and even some INconceivable ones! My answer was a patented "NO". I must be about the same age as Scoutfish, because I remember my brother wanting all of those things and a butterfly knife. My mom said no, so I thought no was the right answer. No reason, just "no". Flash forward to 2 1/2 weeks ago. Our family went to previously mentioned tourist area on vacation. My son found the legendary knife shop. We allowed him to buy the knife. $16 was not bad, and we figured we could observe him with it, and have something big to keep him in line with! Plus, he was putting his most responsible self forward, since it showed that we trusted him. The knife itself was interesting. I "played" with it some. It has no value as a tool in any practical sense. However, he was enamored by it. 3 days later both of the handles broke, and it is completely unusable. He thinks he has a friend in the troop that has handles from a broken one, that he can replace his with. What did all of this lead to? He found out that the knife is cool, in an impractical way. Bigger than that, he found out that cheap stuff, bought in a tourist trap very well may be junk! He found this out just days before leaving for Jambo with a pocketful of spending money, and a list of sites to see! Everything is a learning opportunity. For you, and for him. All of that being said, if you are nervous about injury, and he really wants to do the 'tricks', do a google search for trainer butterfly knives. You can buy them where the blade is not sharp, and is unable to be sharpened.you may be able to compromise, and it just may be able to get him through until the next best thing comes up!!!! ~Pixie

A couple of months ago there was feature article in Boys Life or Scouting, about a troop who did a part of the old Chisholm Trail on Horseback, there may or may not have been herding cattle involved, I don't remember. I think they were from a council near there, and was able to pretty much put the trip together themselves. That being said, does anyone know of something like this that would be commercially available? I think boys in any troop would love to do a trip like this. ~Pixie

Ok, so not thinking about how much spending money my son might need for prior to Jamboree tours, what should I expect my son to spend during jamboree? I know there are concessions, and I assume souvenir shops? I'm not sure how much to send him with, anybody else think about this, or know from experience? Thanks, ~Pixie

A few years ago this was featured in Scouting magazine, siting this guy Wesley's rockets, as used for a rocket derby. My unit has since started doing water rocket derby's each summer. Follow the link, he has instructions for several different rockets. http://wwong.homestead.com/rockets.html HTH, ~Pixie

This sure gives new meaning to getting socks and underwear for Christmas!

I would have never thought of the underwear!!!

Thanks! Great ideas so far!