parents say the darndest things...

[JeffD]

I was going over completed requirements/electives at a meeting and had each of the parents compare notes to make sure I had everything recorded correctly.

 

One of the tiger electives is to ride public transportation (bus, train, etc...). The parent asked if i could count the school bus he rides 2x per day - afterall it is public.... i had to chuckle - just a little.

 

so we have 186 days of school in a year... assuming you go to school every day, you would get about 37 beads - just from that elective

 

so what have you heard from the parents

[alexsma]

I would just explain to the parent that the electives are there to have the boys try new things. Explain that you will count it as 1 elective but that using it as 186 electives isn't how the program was designed.

 

After you do that smile and ask how the tiger is coming along with thier bobcat requirements. Use that to change the subject and move it to a more positive note.

[JeffD]

I did explain it that way to him.. i more laughed at the way it was brought up. it almost sounded like an older kid trying to get by on a technicality... or a lawyer parent

 

i just wanted to hear if others had some more outlandish things like this come up.

 

actually our boys are doing great and all the tigers have earned their bobcat. a few have even volunteered to recite it before the entire pack at a meeting. as a group i am just hitting the point where some kids are starting to miss meetings because of sports. we never had more than 2 kids (out of 19) absent from a den meeting until this month.

[GernBlansten]

Had a Tenderfoot's parent ask me if the community service hours he was doing for his martial arts black belt would satisfy the boy scout requirement too. I responded that it was great the black belt was requiring community service but don't double dip. I may have been wrong, but seems to me you do the specific requirement for the specific advancement.

[Trevorum]

One year before the OA election, I remember a mom bringing me a list of all the times her little Johnny had gone family camping. In their RV.

[SSScout]

See "walk the walk, hike the hike" in the forums.

[theysawyoucomin']

First year as a cub den leader one of the first den meetings I asked a parent for $1 for materials we had used.

 

He said, "Wow, $1 is all you want for watching him all that time", as if I was a babysitter.

 

I wanted to punch him in the teeth. Hard.

[SpongeBob]

I've had EXPERIENCED parent leaders say these things:

 

"What's roundtable?"

 

"I'm supposed to take training?"

We just went through our Quality Unit Centennial Committment form.

33% of our direct contact leaders are trained.

[SpongeBob]

"We moved three years ago and he's not getting Boy's Life."

 

Seems to me that if a boy moves his parents should tell the pack.

 

Maybe it's just easier to wiat three years.....

[CNYScouter]

The Cubmaster of the Pack was son used to be in is a professional firefighter.

He is in the codes department and one of his duties is to attend any public event that has an open flame (cooking, fireworks, etc.).

At one of the local universitys basketball game he was there working in his firemans uniform.

 

One of the parents came up to him and said:

You have another job?

I thought that Cubmaster was your full-time job

 

[SpongeBob]

That reminds me of a uniform incident I had.

 

Four of the boys in my den, including my son, all are on the same wrestling team. One day at practice, I was wearing my uniform becasue I had a meeting afterwards.

 

As I stood there, I was talking about the meeting afterwards, and I made the comment, "That's why I'm wearing my uniform."

 

One parent looked at me and said, "I didn't even notice you were wearing a uniform. We're too used to seeing you in it."

[gwd-scouter]

Had a parent stop by my office one day. When she entered my office she said "wow, I didn't recognize you with clothes on."

 

Yes, of course, she meant REGULAR clothes!

[SWScouter]

This isn't about scouting, but is on the same lines as the above.

 

Way back in the day, I was heavily into bicycle road racing. Well, we called ourselves cyclists, not bikers. Bikers ride harleys. Anyway, this cyclist/biker discussion was occuring with some gals when one asked me, "How long have you been a racist?" Huh! Complete silence until she realized what she said and correctly asked how long I'd been racing bicycles.

 

SWScouter

[SSScout]

"OOOH NO MR. BILL!"

 

"Spoonerism: a transposition usually initial sounds of two or more words, thus: '...he quoted a white horse souse...' for 'white house source'.

 

hoobert heever...

 

?sister mouse matter?

 

 

[Gonzo1]

A parent once complained to the DE "Mr. Gonzo1 makes my son set up his tent in the dark."

 

I told the parent that their son could use a flashlight if he had one.