Milk and Cookies at Den/pack meetings?

[moosetracker]

So my son is 23.. I'm not a parent of this generation, I admit I am getting old, and this is a "Back in my day" complaint.. But I just don't get the milk/juice & Cookie/snack thing having to be offered for a 1 to 1.5 hour activity.. It was just unheard of when my son went through scouting.

 

Since I UC a pack, I don't really didn't get involved except to offer an opinion, then not press the issue when they choice to ignore it.. I was shocked when we ran our recruitment night for the pack this past month and the DE who came to help out announced to all the new parents and scouts the Pack meeting and Den meetings would be serving refreshments without ever checking with the Pack to see if they did do that. I didn't need to correct him, because they did.. But I was shocked it was just a no-brainer given that he felt perfectly comfortable stating the Packs and Dens would of course be doing this..

 

Being a Lopsided Pack (lots of tigers & Wolves).. This recruitment night we got a sprinkle of Bears and Webelos.. I offered to work with them in their first few meetings until the parents learn how to run a Den meeting.. I am thinking not to serve the milk and cookies, and telling them they can if they choose to, but I don't think it is necessary..

 

So am I way out of touch with the new way to raise kids?? Can kids not survive today without out some sort of snack every hour on the hour??.. Is this mentality starting to move into the troop level?? If I run a Bear, Webelos den meeting and don't feed these kids for that hour will we need to call in the ambulance and paramedics?

[jpstodwftexas]

Hummmm when I was a Scouter...We had Refreshments...I was a cub scouter in the early 70's we had refreshments...When I was a boy scouter in the Late 70's early 80's we had refreshments..When I was a Den Leader 2011-2012 I provided Refreshments for My Den..Dens would rotate Refreshments at Pack Meetings. We also decorated Cup cakes..Had picnics at Park.

 

But Hey it is your Pack yall run it your way.

 

[moosetracker]

We had things like blue & gold dinners, For a pinewood Derby which usually ran several hours we would sell refreshments (sort of like a fundraiser Bake Sale..).. Of course a day long BS troop event had lunch if not meals necessary for weekend trip.. .In our last troop, traditional was the Last meeting before summer they either brought in fixings for ice cream Sundays, or took a hike from the church to an ice cream Shoppe for it..Eagle Courts were always with Food.. Sometimes (not always) might have something at a Court of Honor.. Never though for you weekly normal Troop meetings, Pack meetings or Den meetings.

 

So my son went through in the 90's & 00's but you had this feeling it was expected since the '70's.. Interesting.. Perhaps it was the Pack and 3 different troops that we joined?? I am interested to see some other opinions, to see what other troops & packs think..

[qwazse]

Pack meetings, maybe. Den meetings, no (unless it was an achievement involving cooking or nutritious snacks.) But do advise the Pack that they are allowed to set their own boundaries on this.

 

For the sake of his development, ask the DE if he checked with the Packs before making a blanket statement.

[Sakitama]

Unless it is part of the nights activity (like Healthy Snacks or cooking something), we don't do it.

[Basementdweller]

No snacks.....I never did it and honestly never lost one to starvation.

[Peregrinator]

How long does it take for a snack during a 1-1.5 hour meeting? I would think 15-20 minutes at least. That's valuable time that could be spent playing a game, learning a knot, etc.

[Austinole]

We don't do it at either pack or den meetings. One pack I UC for does provide snacks at their pack meetings.

[kari_cardi]

We do snacks for pack meetings, generally related to the theme. Den meetings, no. We also don't offer milk and cookies, it's more likely to be a piece of fruit like grapes or mandarin oranges.

[King Ding Dong]

I agree Moose, no reason they need a snack for a 6:30 or 7:00 meeting. If they are coming from soccer practice the crumbs can stay in the minivan. Pack meeting where we are outside we may have refreshments. Last year at evening den meetings they had a rotation on snacks but I squashed that because it devolved into cheap Little Debbie snack cakes and that is not what you need for all the crummy school work and crafts for Wolves. This year we are having after school meeting so they need a snack, but parents are responsible for packing one for their son. 10 minute snack time before the meeting begins.

[blw2]

We do it sometimes, but mostly no.

 

[Bando]

I seem to remember having cookies at the end of pack meetings when I was a Cub, and maybe there was a box of Oreos or something that went around the table at our den meetings, but it was never a big deal.

 

Honestly, don't see much harm in it.

[Basementdweller]

Talk about blocking out memories....

 

 

When I first started....The Pack started making the boys hot dogs because most of them would not eat dinner and complained they were hungry. Well after a few months of that siblings started to show up then parents....We went from feeding 20 boys a couple packs of hot dogs to feeding 60 families dinner on monday night.......All out of the leaders pockets because the Pack didn't have any money...... Then they complained about no onions, relish or chili to put on them. We needed to provide chips.....It didn't last very long....I think when the parents showed up it went one more week then it was done.....

 

So the simple act of kindness got way out of control by greedy families

 

 

Had that one repressed way back.....I will never forget the mom yelling at me the week we stopped it, What was she going to do for dinner? hmmmmm, go hungry, make something or go buy something.

[dedkad]

My den meets right after school at the school, and everyone with a son knows how famished they are after school, so the parents alternate bringing snack on den meeting days. I recently got fed up with the constant trips back to the snack table while I was trying to run a meeting, so now I am distributing a set portion of snack and drink to each boy as soon as they arrive and they get no seconds. Keeps the meetings focused on what needs to be done. Our pack meetings are in the evening from 6:00 p.m. to about 7:15 p.m. That is right in the middle of dinner time, but we do not provide any food or snack at the pack meetings. We leave it up to the parents to decide if they want to feed their children dinner ahead of time or wait until after. We have a few kids who come to the meeting with a burrito in hand and eat it during the meeting. It has not been a distraction thus far, so we are OK with that. It's usually the kids who are running from one activity to the next who do that. So in answer to your question, yes, kids can go for an hour or an hour and a half without food, provided they are given the opportunity to have a snack at home prior to the meeting.

[Nike]

Only if they meet right after school do I know of any youth group that routinely offers up some kind of organized snack. Snack takes up time, creates trash, leaves crumbs, etc. No. Just no.