What time do your den meetings start?

[Pack378]

Here is the problem, I have a tiger cub who's bed time is 7:30 - 8:00. Our den meetings are at 7:00 which means we don't get home till 8:10. With baths, brushing teeth and everything he does not get to bed till almost 9:00. Am I the only one who thinks 7:00 is to late for a den meeting? I want to bring it up to the committee but I don't know if I'm out of line....

[mjengels]

WOW We are WEBELOS 1 and start at 6:30 - 7:30 and I think that is tooo late. Tigers in our pack start at 6 to 7. I know it is hard for the parents to get home on time.

 

Good luck with the time change. I hope it works out for you.

[Beagle Scout]

I would think that the meeting time would be set by the den leader, not the committee. I would also hope that the den leader would take everyone's schedules into account when setting up den meetings and Go See Its. Seven o'clock does seem a bit late to start, though. Our Tiger meetings start at 6:30 and are scheduled to finish in an hour, but sometimes we run long.

 

[Oak Tree]

Our den meetings all start at 7:00pm.

 

You're not out of line to bring your concerns to the committee, although I agree I'd start with the den leader. You may find that other people have reasons they prefer the 7pm time, but they may be amenable to switching.

 

Oak Tree

[Lisabob]

I understand your concern but I also hope you recognize that no matter what the den does, it is likely to cause difficulty with someone's schedule. For example, the DL might not be able to start earlier because of work or family commitments. The meeting location might not be available earlier, etc..

 

Definitely begin by talking with the DL and then the other families in the den (as a group). Maybe meeting on a weekend would be better for your den? If the DL can't get there earlier, maybe you can volunteer to do the opening and early part of the meeting and the DL can do the second half of the meeting once s/he gets there? For next year (when the boys aren't tigers) maybe those parents who could get there earlier can provide transportation for boys whose parents need to come just a little later? If it is a dinner issue, maybe nutritious snacks can be provided by the families as part of the den meeting to stave off hunger?

 

A little creative thinking ought to go a long way toward resolving this. For us it was generally the pack meetings that were at issue - now that's harder to resolve (so many more people involved).

[msnowman]

All of our dens meet (in various places) on Sunday afternoons from 3pm-430pm. For us we have found this conflicted the least with church, after school activities, bedtimes, homework and meals. When Nephew was first part of the Pack 6pm on Tuesdays were meeting nite/time. However, when he became a Web I we couldn't do that anymore because he had swim on Tuesday, so we moved the Webs (our den) to Sunday afternoons because it worked for everybody involved. Over time the other dens found that Sunday afternoon were great for them too - they could go on hikes, field trips, etc without booking special days.

 

Of course, like with everything YMMV.

 

YiS

Michelle

[ScoutNut]

I thought that you were the Tiger Den leader? If your meeting times are not working out, talk to the families in your Den & work out a new shedule. Even if your Pack is one of those that all meet together, same place/time, there is still no reason why your Den can't be a trend setter & meet when/where it works best for them.

 

My Tigers meet on Saturday mornings from 9-10AM. We still have conflicts, but we deal with them!

 

Our Pack meetings go from 7-8:30PM. However, since it is only once a month our families don't have a problem.

 

[Lady_Leigh67]

We started out with Den and Pack Meetings on Mondays. It was just too hard. We talked with the parents (all had originally wanted Mondays) and they agreed that we needed to move our days. So, Den Meetings are Fridays (Tigers meet at 6:30 to 7:30 pm, and Wolves meet 7:00 to 8:00 pm). Pack Meetings are the final Friday of the month starting at 6:00 pm. and ending by 7:00 pm.

 

[prairie]

Guess I'm the odd one out here and maybe its because there are more working mothers now than back in the late 60s, as cubs we met after school five blocks away in the comunity building, it was quite a change with Webelos to have after supper meetings.

[WVCubDad]

Our Den meetings start at 7pm and our Pack meetings start at 6:30. I am the Tiger Den Leader and my son has an 8pm bedtime as well, except for Cub Scout nights (and camping trips 8^)) I try my best to end on time at 8 and get him home by 8:30. He is usually in bed by 8:45 and I'm downstairs getting dinner.

 

I work an hour away and carpool, so for me getting home, me changed, him changed, grabing my stuff for the den meeting, loading it all up, and driving to the meeting place (10 minutes) so that I can be there at least 15 minutes early is a challenge. (My apologies to the English majors for the run-on sentence.) Starting any earlier would not work for me, and on Pack meeting nights I usually drive to work on my own so I can leave early. Any of you who are familiar with the I-70/270 interchange around Frederick, MD will appreciate the hassle heading westbound at 5 pm.

 

The morning after Cub Scouts can sometimes be a bear, but I try to let him sleep a little longer. We generally get both children up at 6, I'm up an hour earlier and out the door at 7. They go to the bus stop at 7:45 and my wife heads off to her practice ahead of the bus.

 

We like to sleep late on the weekends - 7 am or so and Sunday afternoons are made for naps, unless a race is on!

 

Talk with the den leader, see if a compromise can be reached, or try to accept a slightly later bedtime one night a week.

 

John

Tiger Den Leader

Pack 13

Potomac District

Shenandoah Area Council

 

(This message has been edited by WVCubDad)

[Wyndfall]

The norm for our Dens is 7:00-8:00 either on Tuesday or Wednesday. However, since we all use our school for the meetings, no space on left Wednesdays, Tuesdays didn't work for my Webelos and Mon & Thurs didn't work for me, my Den meets after school on Mondays from 3:40 to 5:00. My parents love it, since they don't have to drag the siblings out the door again in the evening. It works best for my schedule, and allows me to help with my older sons. It also cuts down on sports practice conflicts.

[lizzygo]

we meet on Fridays from 3:30-4:30.

[Jeffrey H]

Talk with your Den Leader. The DL is the one who has to lead the Den week after week, not the Pack Committee.

 

Good Luck. Schedules can be changed. The Pack Committee should be flexible on this if they want to keep their Den Leaders.

 

By the way, my Den meets on Sunday evenings from 6:30 to 7:45.