Tami the Mom

They both sound terrific! We've had a difficult time securing help at Cub camp because so many folks have little ones at home. Having somewhere on-site for the kids to play would be awesome. Our GS camp is different- they have all the staff they need, and actually make it pretty clear they don't want parents to hang around.

That theme sounds great! Our council runs camp for 6 weeks, each week has a different theme. What I am most interested in is your tag-along class. How does that work? The problem I have run into with both GS camp and Cub Scout camp is what to do with my toddlers while the older kids are in camp.

I always thought the AOL was supposed to be a separate ceremony. We do ours in January, then cross the WebII's at the B&G, and then cross the rest up at a Crossover ceremony in April/May. We're right now planning our B&G. With the AOL being very solemn and impressive, and the Crossover being so busy with awards and ranking up, we're shooting for a hootenanny type B&G this year. It is supposed to be a birthday party after all, so we're going to spend most of it singing and playing.

My troop is planning to go to the camp-o-ree in June, but we see that they have a minimum troop size of 10. With girls and adults, we have 8. Anyone interested in registering together? We're in the Adirondack Council (Upstate, eastern NY) and as far as we know, the only ones from our area going. We'd really like to hook up with another troop, especially girls in 6th grade. Thanks!

Does anyone have the catalog with the special codes for ordering online that you can get the rubber bracelets? I had one, had my order all ready to fill out, and one of my kids took off with the catalog. The codes for the bracelets expires tomorrow (Halloween.) If someone has one they aren't using, I would really appreciate using your code! Thanks!

It sounds like you have a lot more issues with him than just this. It seems crummy for him to go in uniform as well, giving the impression it is a group fundraiser. If I was taking just my son out to sell, I would not wear my uniform.

We've had trouble too. One thing that we keep telling them is that their son will take from the program exactly what THEY put into it. "Tuck-n-roll" kids will get almost nothing from their Cub Scouting years, if they even last a year. Kids who's parents get involved- whether as DL's, activity coordinators, or even as field-trip chaperones, will enjoy their time much more. We tell them at recruitment nights that BSA does not stand for Baby Sitters Anonymous. There are no bench positions, everybody has a turn at bat. Just tonight I had to cancel a denmeeting. Our DL had a funeral today and couldn't be there. The battery in my van is dead, and none of the parents will stay to help the cubmaster run the meeting. I should point out that none of us- the DL, myself, or the CM- has a son in this den. The parents would rather cancel the meeting that stick around for it. Their choice. You may have to lay it right out for them- you can't expect 5 people to run the whole program. If they don't have an hour or two per week to spend with their own son, maybe scouting isn't for them. It stinks to lose boys because their parents can't step up. Oh- another thing I have done with my dens when I was a DL- I told the parents right at the start of the year, that if we came to a time when I could only take part of the den on an outing, I would start with the kids who's parents had helped me more. If they wanted their boy to be one of the 4 who got to go, they had better put some time in now. Every one of them did something to help. Easy things- sit in a chair for a meeting when my assistant had a family emergency. Make a bunch of phonecalls for me so I am not on the phone all evening when my husband is home. There is always something small anyone can do. Heck- babysit my other kids while I run a denmeeting. Something/anything.

I just bought some at the Girl Scout shop for my daughter's vest. We've only put 3 patches on, but so far, I love it. I only paid $3 for mine. I got one sheet, about 8x11. It was double-sided sticker paper, and we ironed it down once we placed the patches. I figure if things start to peel away, I'll stitch them down, but at least now they are on.

Oh my. So sad. I agree- the only way to know you've said it enough is when you hear your child say it to their own kids.

*AYE* It sounds like you are already doing the job from the passenger seat. Slide on into the driver's seat, sister!

Once a uniform, always a uniform. If it was ever considered an officail uniform piece, it can still be worn. Have you checked second hand stores? Or maybe call your council. Sometimes people hand down old unies when they change levels. If you still can't find anything, I would suggest a specific-target fundraiser. Collect bottles and cans and run a bake sale at the same time. Good luck! And check out the on-line store. They have sales going on. Our council store has things on sale periodically as well.

I think before anyone takes their kids- scouts or just their own, to a public campground, they should be informed about who is there. Public campgrounds- state parks included, are very well known hunting grounds for pedophiles. Everyone knows that kids will be set free to roam with little or no supervision for long periods of time. There are a million places to hide away with someone's kid. And if you can get the kid to climb into your car, you can be 100 miles away before anyone even knows you're gone. In the situation you are describing, I would hope that the parents would be more cautious. I don't think the BSA would stand behind these folks at all if any problems arose as a result of this kind of camping. We always take our Cubs to a BSA camp.

I have my B shirt from classb.com on right now. We loved ordering from them- so easy, and they were very helpful. We chose a stock design, put our pack number and town on it, and then just took orders from our families. We got short and long sleeve t-shirts, crew and hoody sweatshirts. Our troop has their own design as well. I love the class B's. We can support our pack whenever we want to wear them, and don't worry about ruining a $35 shirt. We're actually putting together a new order next week with a different design, just for the change.

I don't think anyone meant to imply you weren't helping. I have been a leader or assistant since my daughter was a first year Brownie, she is now a 3rd yr Junior. One thing I can say- the first few meetings of every year are a little hectic, even with an experienced leader. My troop hasn't gained or lost a girl in 3 years, but our first 2 meetings this year were still crazy. The girls are out of the routine, there are lots of papers for parents to fill out, and with the start of the school year, everyone is struggling to regain routines. My question to you would be- what are the other 3 adults doing? You said you are the only one helping out, but there are 5 adults there. In my experience, extra adults hanging around and not pitching in only leads to chaos. It's hard to get little girls to focus and listen to you with their mother's right there. They either want to cling to mommy, or they figure they can do whatever they want to do, since mommy is right there and not telling them they can't do things. Do you have the handbook and badgebook? Read through them, and put together a patch-earning meeting. I would suggest starting with Girl Scout Ways and Manners. Those two lay the groundwork for the whole program. Good luck to you! I would hate to see someone with your interest become disillusioned with the program.

Welcome, Emily! I understand your desire to keep all 20 of these boys in the pack, but it is so unfair to you and your son. I know- I felt this pressure last year. My son was a first year Webelos, and halfway thru the year, our dl stopped showing up. I had just had a baby in October, and had a 20 month old and a 9yo daughter as well. Since nobody else would step forward to help the den, I did. I ended up miserable from it- having to drag 3 daughters to every meeting, and then still having to call parents almost every week because they would drop their boys in the parkinglot, and I would be alone with them. More than once I had to cancel meetings because I couldn't get a second parent to stay. At our last pack meeting of the year, I made it very clear to all of them that September would be different. I told them in no uncertain terms, come September I was not going to be the denleader anymore. If it came to it, I would be my son's dl from home, and see him thru his AOL. The rest would be left in the cold, because as the year went on, I was having less and less fun, spending less time with my own kids, and feeling like I was letting all of the boys down. Since that is the exact opposite of how I wanted my son's Cub Scouting experience to be, I was making this choice. And you know what- within that same pack meeting, a woman stepped up to be the new dl, and another stood up to assist her. Hmmm... where were they when I needed help? I think it all came down to the fact that I wasn't making my needs known strongly enough. People will not step forward if they think you have everything under control. If they hear you say you'll manage things the way they are until December, they figure they'll wait until then to see how much longer they can push you off. I think the best thing you can do for yourself, and also for these boys, is at your next meeting tell them that you will be cutting the den at least in half. Tell them that you will be drawing names from a hat, and those who don't get pulled will have to pick a dl from their pool of parents. Then tell them that if they choose not to, then sadly- their son's scouting years are now over. It is not fair to YOUR son for you to be stretched so thin. Do you remember what YOUR son did at your last denmeeting? Do you remember if he had a good time? When he needed help doing something, were you able to put your own time into it, or were you too busy with another boy? I would remind these 19 sets of parents that the ONLY reason you are involved with Cub Scouts is because you want to enjoy time with your son. If they want the same thing, they can give the same commitment. If not, you can give them directions to the nearest coffee shop, and tell them they can take their chit-chat down the road.

I would rather cut loose one family than lose a whole den. If it were as simple as riding out a few more months it might be easier to let him stay, but you are facing another year and a half. That's just too long to expect everyone else to bite their lip or walk on eggshells. A few years ago we faced a similar situation in my own GS troop. I ended up telling our area coordinator that she had to choose- me to stay as leader, or this one girl (and her mother) to stay in the troop. I told her in no uncertain terms I would not be involved with this mother. I stayed. I think it is very important to try to work every angle to see if there is a place for a boy in your pack. But in the end- without leaders, there is no den. And you can't expect volunteers to spend their time with someone who makes everyone so unhappy. I'm sorry you have to make this hard decision. But like Oak Tree said, most parts of being CM are much better than this.

Good luck! Wow- with 16 boys interested, it seems like some of their parents could step up. Our CM is a great-uncle to 3 of our boys, and our Webelos II leader is another boys aunt. Maybe you could expand your pool of prospective leaders? Update when you can!

I would start with your district commissioner and executives- they could point you to who put the event together. These things are put together by committees, so when the time comes for the next one, maybe you could volunteer to help make arrangements. They may have put their focus on the Boy Scout activities and not the CS time. We just had a camporee this weekend in Fort Ti, NY that was fabulous. I hope your next one is.

A lot of packs run Grizzly and Honeybear races- after the boys, for Moms and Dads. The theory is that if the parents spend more time tricking out their own car, the Cub is left to do more of the work on his. We're doing this for the first time this year, so I don't know how many of our concerns it will solve, but we have to try.

Congrats to the new mods! That's just Scout-a-rific!

I am stuck between these two and need some help. Our Cubmaster likes to do everyone's job. He thinks he is our one and only capable leader, so he goes to every den meeting of every den. He handles every fundraiser and service project. He tries to take over leader and committee meetings. As assistant, my ability to reign him in is limited. The big problem is the rising tension between him and our committee chair, who happens to be my sister. This all came to a bubble last night at our first leader meeting of the new year. 1. He told the new Tiger leaders to just purchase whatever supplies they needed, and the pack would reimburse them with receipts. This is directly against what we decided last year. 2. He told us last year that the food pantry nearly refused to accept our SFF donations, so we worked out another plan- to aim our flyers toward baby needs and donate to the Community Maternity Services, also a food pantry, but specifically for low-income mom's to be. Now he says the food pantry was never a problem, we can go there any time. 3. After our sign-up night last week, he took the new applications home with him. Fine, except the next day he turned them over to council, without letting our CC or COR sign off the new leaders! He just went ahead and signed for them! So what do we do? Our CC is flipping mad. She wouldn't have had a problem signing off on anyone, but he just took the papers and signed her name without asking. She's ready to tell him to stick the whole pack where he can't see it. Unfortunately he just started his Wood Badge, so he needs to stay on for another 18 months. Plus, we don't have anyone to take over for him anyway. And advice or thoughts?

Daisies are more like a scheduled playgroup with a purpose. They don't do any fundraisers, only meetings and field trips. You won't have to sell cookies until next year.

Didn't Jennifer Garner just let it slip she's having a girl? Somebody- quick- get a Daisy smock to her now!

CMM- that's pretty much all Daisies are supposed to do. It's an intro program for Girl Scouts. Wait til she's a Brownie- you'll be selling cookies and hearing about Try-It's in your sleep!

I just got my program & training guide. looking thru the dates, I don't think they've left a single weekend free! I know most troops won't do everything offered, but my girls really enjoy the council events. I just went thru and picked out all of the events where my Juniors could earn front-patches - there are 7 of them! One if an overnighter, the rest are day events. If my daughter and I do all 7, it will cost us $68. That doesn't include all the "fun" activities- World Thinking Day- this year they are rollerskating and ice skating. Sock hops, movies, craft days, and museum trips. And now that she is 11, there are SIX Studio 2B Night Out events. Most of these are on Sundays, 6:30-8pm! Why would they do that? I know she's old enough now to stay up a little later, but come on- they are doing these events 45 minutes from our town. So that means she'd be up until 9pm at the very earliest possible. I would like her to be able to go, but I know my daughter- I don't think she would handle all those late nights very well. Anybody else doing all the council events?