Just got a new Tiger!

[mbscoutmom]

I was just informed by my husband, the cc, that we have a new Tiger and a new Bear joining us next week. Wonderful news, since we only had 2 active Bears and 1 active Tiger. However, I now have to figure out what to do with the new Tiger! Our current Tiger's mom is single, working, and going to school, so I've been helping her get him through his Tiger requirements. He'll be getting his Tiger at the Blue and Gold Banquet in a couple of weeks. I thought that after that I would work on his Bobcat with him at den meetings, and that's all, since I have the Wolf den meeting to run as well. (It won't hurt the Wolves to review the Bobcat stuff, anyway.) Should I tell his parents to work on his Tiger requirements with him at home in hopes that he can get his Tiger before next year, or can he skip that, get his Bobcat with the other boy, and cross over to Wolves in May?

 

 

[ScoutNut]

It sounds like the old Tiger's Adult Partner is pretty much a no-show. Will there be a Den for this new guy or are his Partner & him pretty much on their own?

 

If the 2 Tigers (& their Partners) are going to be a Den together then they should work on things together. There are plenty of ways the Den activites & Go-See-It's can be repeated differently. They can also work on the Bobcat requirements as they go. I would also have the new Tiger Team work at home on all of the achievements. The new Tiger should have no problems (if they work on it) earning both his Tiger & Bobcat ranks by the end of May.

 

Even if the new Tiger doesn't make his rank he can still graduate to Wolf. And if Tiger & Partner still want to work towards Tiger rank on their own over the summer that's fine too. Just make sure they understand that they can't work on both Tiger & Wolf at the same time. He has to finish up one before he can work on another. The only rank that can be worked on while working on another rank is Bobcat.

 

BTW - Does the new Tiger's Adult Partner realize that he/she is the defacto Den Leader? Now that there are 2 Tigers they will need their own meeting time/place.

 

[mbscoutmom]

"BTW - Does the new Tiger's Adult Partner realize that he/she is the defacto Den Leader? Now that there are 2 Tigers they will need their own meeting time/place."

 

I'm sure they don't--and I'm not about to tell them that! That's a sure way to get them to turn around and walk out. Three years ago, my husband and I just about did that when our 2nd son was a Tiger. There were only 3 Tigers and none of the parents wanted to be den leader. If the Wolf leader hadn't taken on the Tigers for that year, we wouldn't have had a Tiger den. After a year of getting to know the leaders and other families in scouts, we felt ready to become more involved. My husband became Wolf den leader so our son would have a den, and our involvement has increased every year. I think all new dens should have an experienced leader helping them out for at least a few months. We'd have a much smoother running pack if we were able to do that.