Campout and Oversleeping

[Engineer61]

So, I had a rather testy conversation with my wife about our Scout's last campout (last weekend).

 

Apparently, he did not wake up when his tent buddy tried to wake him, so he didn't get breakfast.

 

So, my response was, "...sounds like xxxx's problem" which is pretty much what I've read here...it was long ride home (5 hrs) on an empty stomach.

 

Of course, wifey went all "Momma bear" and jumped on my case...so I asked him if his buddy tried to wake him up...he said yes, but he wanted more sleep...so, I just gave the "duh-look" and left it at that.

 

This is the third straight campout that he's been on where this has happened....needless to say, he's not a morning person...at all.

 

So, did I miss the general flow of how the campouts work?

[Eagle92]

You hit the nail on the head. It is your son's problem and he needs to deal with it. That is part of growing up.

[SctDad]

Sounds like mamabear needs to let her son know that if they wait for one person to wake up then it will set everything back.

 

I would suggest, however, keeping something that does not spoil on hand that the young lad can eat. Oatmeal, dry cereal, granola bars. that way you avoid the long time without food. If he wakes up after breakfast and has missed the hot chow that is provided, he still has something to eat. I did this with a parent/son combo that constantly woke up after breakfast dishes were done. Sometimes by an hour. I told the parent that there was oatmeal in the box. That is what he had.

 

You cannot change a schedule because one child "wants more sleep." If you were to do that then return times would be backed up by several hours.

 

I also understand that there are not many "morning" persons. I can be that way. But this scout needs to understand that this is part of scouting.

[SMT224]

If his buddy can't get him up, it's up to the Patrol Leader. If he's ineffective, the Senior Patrol Leader should step in. If this is still not working, the entire Troop can stand around his tent yelling and shaking the tent. I guarantee this will work. He may not be very happy when he comes out, but he will get up and get going.

 

Some guys are just not morning people, and getting up on a camping trip or at summer can is hard. But if the expectation of the Troop is that Scouts get up when the SPL says it's time to get up, he will learn to get up.

 

Scouts are much more effective than adults. Sorry momma bear, it's not our responsibility! It's their Troop!

[SctDad]

Something else that I remembered from my days as a staff member at a summer camp.

 

If someone overslept and did not arrive for breakfast, which happeded on occasion, then the LARGE bell from the boating area was retrieved and rang outside the cabon window.

 

Our senior summercamp staff here have airhorns. Seldom does somon oversleep.

 

Do you have a bugler, maybe some reville would be an order.

[Roadkill Patrol]

We had a new patrol on our last campout. When the patrol leader asked me when they should start breakfast, I informed him he should get his patrol together and decide. He said that xxxxx is still sleeping. I told him that he is only still sleeping because you are allowing him to keep sleeping. Since the rest of them were hungry, it didn't take long for them to get him awake!

[Gunny2862]

If the food is provided and prepared for a certain time and one misses it, well they will be hungry for a couple of hours - or in the U.S. they will for the first time in a while realize what the beginnings of hunger feels like - not a big problem.

 

If an advancement opportunity is provided for the group with all of it's attendant preparation and planning - do you run through it again for the Scout who chose to be late? Not the one who was the victim of an unfortunate circumstance beyond his control - but the one who CHOSE not to be there at the appointed time?

 

Choices and Consequences in a place where it is safe to fail...

[Eamonn]

Fast foreword a few years.

What will be the outcome when "Sleeping Beauty" doesn't get up?

Will his boss be OK with it?

Will anyone be there to ensure that he gets his three squares a day?

I think not.

Some of the lessons we learn in Scouting might not seem like rocket science, but they are life lessons that need to be learned now as in a few years the consequences are much greater.

A lazy little toad who can't get up when everyone else does? Has made his own bed and if laying in it causes him to miss a meal?

I know who is to blame.

Maybe he needs to look at what time he goes to sleep?

Most Scouts I've known who claim not to be morning people are so because they spend half the night talking and doing other things when everyone else is asleep or trying to get to sleep.

Ea.

[Eagle92]

True story, I am driving to NCS and the person I am giving a ride to calls her married son to wake him up so that he can get to work on time.

 

I.KID.YOU.NOT.

[SR540Beaver]

I'm not a morning person, never have been, never will be........I've never missed a breakfast on a campout, and we usually get up before the sun.

[Beavah]

Yah, two issues, eh?

 

If da breakfast is important to the safety of the outing (yeh have a high-calorie-expenditure day comin'), or the lad is important to the team for breakfast (like he's got to help cook, or he's got to help tear down camp while others cook), then I think da PL has to get the fellow up. Usin' whatever means he and his fellows feel are reasonably appropriate .

 

If the breakfast isn't important because it's a lazy day or the lad isn't important to the team for breakfast, then I think yeh should take a serious look at improvin' the level of your program. Seriously, if there isn't a good reason to get up and get breakfast on time, your program is probably pretty lame, eh? Yeh need to push the lads more by doin' more fun, energetic stuff that demands they work together and be organized and timely.

 

If the lad still stays abed, then he misses the meal and the activity, eh? I certainly wouldn't have back-up pop tarts or whatnot available.

 

As to how yeh handle Mrs. Engineer61, I reckon I'm not goin' to venture advice in that area .

 

Beavah

 

[Engineer61]

Thanks all.

 

I pretty much had it dead on. Scout might not like it, and Mama Bear might not like it...but that's the way it is.

 

We had a saying in my college marching band (considered the best the in US)...

 

"To be early is to be on time."

"To be on time is to be late."

"To be late is to be LEFT."

 

Out of 300 members, no one ever missed the bus or plane.

 

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That particular morning, the only activity was to break camp and head home.

 

I'm not too worried about him being involved in anything "high energy". He is strictly in Scouting for the camping...he could care less about advancement, let alone Eagle. (This puts him at odds with Mom, since her father and brother Eagle'd.)

 

He'd be content to take three or four camping trips a year and be done with the rest of it.

 

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As for handling Mama Bear...I know how to bob and weave!

 

[JoeBob]

Sleeping late is frequently the result of staying up late. He needs to learn that there is a price for whatever pleasurable activity he chose to enjoy the night before, instead of sleep.

 

A trick to get 'em up is to dump a handful of cold BBs in their bag. The BBs roll to the lowest point, so the only way to escape them is to get out! I had a roommate that I used that trick on once. After that, just shaking a milk carton of BBs next to his head would levitate him.

[Twocubdad]

We've collapsed tents on guys any number of times. Works best if the tent is cold and dewy. A cup of cold water works for repeat offenders.

 

I once had a mom complain that her son was being bullied when he slept late. Of course it wasn't his fault. His routine was to wake up, take his ADD/ADHD meds, then lie in bed 30-45 minutes until they kicked in.

 

I explained to her that Scout camping was a group activity and the schedule was set by the group and her son was expected to adhere to the group schedule. As we don't have the leadership to supervise one boy dragging up an hour after the rest of the group. He either needed to conform or stay home.

 

I suggested a reasonable accommodation would be for him to bring an alarm clock, set if for 45 minutes before wake up call so he could take his meds and be ready to go with the rest of the group.

 

They've since moved on. Go figger.

[evmori]

Slam dunk by Eamonn. If we are helping to prepare these young men for the future they need to learn their actions have consequences.