Exactly who am I obligated to please?

[Torveaux]

Unless these kids are in High School, even 9pm is too late for a bedtime. Children need much more than 8 hours of sleep at that age and going to bed at 9 or later seriously reduces the likelihood that the kids are getting enough sleep. Maybe the solution is to teach the kids and parents about the effects of not getting enough sleep.

 

Perhaps you could alternate meeting times or days of the week. I have found that weekend meetings are much more productive and can avoid much of the sleep deprivation issues.

 

Sure, it is your choice when to have the meetings, but if nobody comes is it really a meeting?

[GS-CS_leader]

Excuse me, Torveaux, but you seem to have been so anxious to lecture about bedtimes that you didn't bother to read the original posting carefully. The meeting was only moved to *7pm* so it is almost certainly finished well before 9pm (I'm guessing by 8pm which is why I suggested that the girl could just be picked up a little early). And the members seem to prefer the slightly later time too since they are now getting to the meeting on time. Anne doesn't say that anyone else is complaining or not coming. So why do you say "nobody comes"? I agree that 10pm does sound like a late bedtime, but it's irrelevant because the meeting is not lasting until any time near that late. If some girls stay up another couple hours after the meeting, that's the choice of their families. The main issue is that one mother seems to be demanding that the meeting time be moved to suit her daughter even though it would not only be hard on the leader, but would evidently be more early than the rest of the members are comfortable with as well.

 

I also think you are being insensitive to the fact that as a single working mother, it is very difficult for her to have earlier meetings. I applaud Anne for being willing to be a GS leader given how hard it is to find extra time if you are a single working parent. I don't think she needs to give herself extra stress to satisfy one demanding mother. You can't always please everyone and scout leaders should not be expected to put everyone else's preferences above their own.

 

Alternating times is likely to lead to girls being late for the early meetings and showing up early for the later ones since families will not necessarily check their calendar every week, or may get confused. Besides we are back to whether it is reasonable for *everyone else* in the troop to have to do something confusing and inconvenient because of one girl.

 

As for weekends, my own troop has met on Sunday evenings for several years now. But it is still a *night* meeting because weekend days are taken up by religious services, religious school, and sports games. So weekends might not help with the lateness issue.

[Jayne1955]

My 3rd year Juniors and 1st year Cadettes start school at 8:30. My meetings are on a week night from 7-8:30. None of them has a problem with going to bed at nine, but that's just me. There is no blanket rule for everyone.