Hello from MD

[110Percent]

I am a newly minted Tiger Den Leader from the Seneca District in the National Capital Area Council. It has been a little over a month and things seem to be going pretty well. My den has grown to 12 boys, 11 of which have already earned their bobcat, and we just added a second assistant den leader. The forums and blogs have been the only real assistance I've received from experienced scouter. Planning Go See Its has been an exercise in reinventing the wheel. I just can't seem to find the right person to teach me how to streamline the planning process.

[Tampa Turtle]

Welcome. Lots of good ideas here. I solved the go see it problem by having a Mom who did special events. Actually we delegated it to the parents as much as possible. The hardest part is finding the places to go when you are meeting.

[SSScout]

Welcome to the neighborhood. Try the PM function, I live just down the road in White Oak.

 

TTurtle has the right idea. Include the parents. Give them ideas, suggested places to "go see", give each a month for which to plan , and keep at them to make it work. It is (and never should) just be you.

[AKdenldr]

Good for you on your early success. Your den size might be getting too large. Thinking about a split in the future might be worthwhile. Two smaller dens that work together might leave room for the tigers to have a small group experience. Our pack capped den size at 9. 6-8 seems good. Just sayin.

[110Percent]

Welcome to the neighborhood. Try the PM function, I live just down the road in White Oak.

 

TTurtle has the right idea. Include the parents. Give them ideas, suggested places to "go see", give each a month for which to plan , and keep at them to make it work. It is (and never should) just be you.

The parents are thus far completing simple tasks even if time consuming but I haven't been able get someone to step up and help plan. The ones most willing to help are holding back because they volunteered for other positions that the CM doesn't seem to want to hand over and they don't want to overcommit.

[110Percent]

Good for you on your early success. Your den size might be getting too large. Thinking about a split in the future might be worthwhile. Two smaller dens that work together might leave room for the tigers to have a small group experience. Our pack capped den size at 9. 6-8 seems good. Just sayin.

We are keeping the boys as one den for now but with the second ADL that just signed on we will split them into two groups during discussions and crafts, one ADL per group. Neither of the ADLs is willing to form their own den, but I want to get them used to handling their own roster before I push any harder for a split.

[Oldscout448]

Hi there 110, I am just north of you in Frederick, Tigers didn't exist when my boys were in cubbies, but I was once a cub, a den chief, a den leader, etc. If I can be of any help, give me a shout.

Oldscout

PS If you sew a den leader patch on each knee of your pants, they won't wear out when you are crawling around cleaning up after the meetings!

[110Percent]

Hi there 110, I am just north of you in Frederick, Tigers didn't exist when my boys were in cubbies, but I was once a cub, a den chief, a den leader, etc. If I can be of any help, give me a shout.

Oldscout

PS If you sew a den leader patch on each knee of your pants, they won't wear out when you are crawling around cleaning up after the meetings!

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how you take it) my ADLs prefer cleaning to answering the million questions I get before and after the meetings. It's funny that the parents seem to have forgotten that I started scouting with them a couple of weeks ago.

[SSScout]

Hi there 110, I am just north of you in Frederick, Tigers didn't exist when my boys were in cubbies, but I was once a cub, a den chief, a den leader, etc. If I can be of any help, give me a shout.

Oldscout

PS If you sew a den leader patch on each knee of your pants, they won't wear out when you are crawling around cleaning up after the meetings!

"The million questions"... I assume they are from the Cub Parents. Here's where your dedication kicks in.

If you don't know the answer, or don't want to make a "Command Decision", you can do one of three things (actually, you can do either of these even if you DO know the answer) :\

One) "I don't know. I'll find out and get right back to you."

Two) " I don't know. What do you think? Maybe we can work together on that. Call me when you have an idea."

or

Three) "Hey, good question. I bet Jeff and Mary would like to work with you on that. Let's go talk to them.... Hey Jeff!"

[110Percent]

Hi there 110, I am just north of you in Frederick, Tigers didn't exist when my boys were in cubbies, but I was once a cub, a den chief, a den leader, etc. If I can be of any help, give me a shout.

Oldscout

PS If you sew a den leader patch on each knee of your pants, they won't wear out when you are crawling around cleaning up after the meetings!

I really need to start trying that approach.

[Faith]

Hi there 110, I am just north of you in Frederick, Tigers didn't exist when my boys were in cubbies, but I was once a cub, a den chief, a den leader, etc. If I can be of any help, give me a shout.

Oldscout

PS If you sew a den leader patch on each knee of your pants, they won't wear out when you are crawling around cleaning up after the meetings!

It works wonders

[Faith]

Welcome to the forums! This place has been a huge help to many of us den leaders and others alike. I'm a second year den leader (our boys are now Wolves) and currently have 12 active scouts. I am the leader with one assistant den leader. A den split was proposed but in the end it just didn't happen and I'm ok with that, our boys are doing great together and we're finally getting the parents more involved in helping, making decisions, etc. Took a whole year and lots of explaining/questions/seeking out (along the steps SSScout listed above) but it works!