Trouble With Den Meetings

[swilliams]

Our den leader's son has been having health issues for quite a while now.  I stepped up in January and started planning and hosting den meetings at our house.  Note: I'm not formally an assistant den leader, but just wanted to try and help out during a tough time.  After a bit, I was able to arrange for meetings at our elementary school, and our den leader said he was ready to take the reins again.  During this same time period, we've added four new Webelos scouts, and one 5th grader who is hoping to get his Arrow of Light (our pack doesn't have an AOL den) before crossing over to the troop.  In addition, none of our regular boys has earned their Webelos rank yet.  The handful of den meetings the DL has arranged have been last-minute and completely ineffective.  We needed to get Building a Better World done for the AOL, and the DL showed up with nothing prepared, then told the scouts to go outside and find a 3 foot stick.  When we asked him what that was for, he said, "To give them something to do."

We had a parent meeting at the pack level a couple weeks ago, and I was 'put in my place' when I told our Cubmaster (whose son is a Webelos scout) that we needed to have a couple more den meetings this year to get everyone where they needed to be.  I was told that this was too busy a time of year to have meetings, and it wasn't my place to be running things.  Now we have the school for only one more night, and the AOL scout turns 11 in another two weeks.  Den leader won't commit to a meeting because his son now has to undergo a surgery, but won't give me the go ahead to hold it, and I don't have the Cubmaster's support.

I'm wondering what the protocol is (other than pizzing people off) if I were to let families know that I'm going to be doing x,y.z at our house, and they're welcome to join us?  I'm doing a handful of requirements with my son regardless because I won't wait any longer for the last three things he needs to earn his Webelos rank.

[Oldscout448]

This is easier said than done but  " Do what is right for the scouts,  they are why we do this. "   An nasty email from a cubmaster is rendered insignificant when a proud smiling cub scout says  Thank you.    Even if it's not in words.

 

[SSScout]

What OldScout said...    Be totally open and visible. Give credit for the "official"  WDL 's efforts, the CM's efforts and concerns.  Point out that "A Scout is Trustworthy" and that the Scouts do need to "earn " their badges/ranks, it is not right or fair to simply "give"  them the ranks .   You will be doing "thus and so"  to facilitate that earning, and here we go.   

You may get some push back for (?) overstepping your place, but again, be gracious and thankful to the CM and the OWDL...   "It's for the Cubs", yes?   

 

[FireStone]

You're in an advantageous position because you are making efforts to get kids to rank. It's hard for any parent or leader to oppose that, especially this late in the year. I'd be really surprised to hear anyone say, "No, you can't help those kids finish their ranks." 

So I would say to just go ahead and do what you need to do. I've found that it's much easier to get support for what you do when you don't ask permission to do it. I know that sounds kind of bad, but really I'm talking about just getting stuff done within the program. I just do what I need to do to get things done, by the book. When time is of the essence, often this is the only way to operate. 

Put stuff on the calendar, let people know about it, and get stuff done. 

[swilliams]

Thanks, all.  This has been a tough year.  Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of what exactly it is we're teaching the scouts by example.  Good responses here, that help me remember to try and make sure whatever gets done, is done in a way that you wouldn't be disappointed with, should it be a scout's actions, rather than my own.