Eat all your broccoli or else...

[ASM59]

OK, I was brought up with the notion that kids dont always know what is best for them, hence many nights sitting at the kitchen table for hours after having been told Eat all your broccoli or else! Well I surely did not want to eat the broccoli, but I knew better than to challenge my parents on this. The same applied to going to Church, getting homework done, obeying teachers (or any adult for that matter), and much more.

 

Right, wrong, or indifferent, I still believe that this old notion is true; up to a certain age. Lisabob makes the choice that her son must be involved in something. Scouting works for them, as it did for my son and me. My son never wanted to quit in Cubs or Webelos, but he started making noises about quitting once getting to Boy Scouts. I told him that he was more than welcome to quit, after he got his First Class rank. He was the second Scout to earn his First Class rank out of the boys that he crossed over with. By that time, he was having too much fun to quit. I enjoyed 8 years of Scouting with my son, and now that he is off to college, he is missed. But, I intend to continue helping to provide a Scouting program to the boys of our area for as long as I can.

 

I have a question about this.

Did anyone else out there make it a requirement for their son to be in Scouts?

(some of the best Scouts and worst Scouts Ive know were required to be there by parents)

 

ASM59

 

[scottteng]

My kids love broccoli especially when smothered in cheese sauce or cooked up by the Chinese restaurant with chicken or beef. Brussel sprouts on the other hand oh well they will learn.

[funscout]

I didn't require my boys to be in scouts, but I did make it clear that since I had made the commitment to be a leader, that I would finish out the year whether they stayed in or not.

 

When my younger son was a Bear scout, he often told me he wanted to quit because he got in trouble at most every meeting. (He has ADHD, and I was his mean Den leader.) I wasn't about to let him stay home alone, so I told him he could quit, but he still had to come to the meetings with me and he could do his homework while we had our den meeting. His older brother was one of my Den Chiefs, and I'll never forget the time that Older Son was helping me set up for a den meeting and I told Younger Son not to look at some materials because I wanted him to be surprised along with the other Cubs. Older son then asked me, "Is he still in Cub Scouts?" I said, "I don't know, let's ask him." Younger son said, "Yeah, I guess I'll stay in Cub Scouts." That same scenario played out a couple more times throughout the year.

 

Now that he's a 7th grader, Younger Son is still in scouts, and occasionally expresses the desire to quit. After a fun meeting or campout, however, he is gung-ho once again. I've learned that his requests to quit are just his way of expressing situational frustrations and once he's calmed down, he realizes he had just overreacted.

[scoutldr]

My two sons weren't "required" to join, but they stayed in just to humor me. Older son made Star and younger made Life. Older one now manages an award winning fine dining restaurant, although he had no formal management training. While discussing various leadership styles and theories last night, I asked him where he learned it..."Scouts" was his immediate answer. While a freshman at Elon College, he called back and said, "Thanks dad...these kids can't do ANYTHING for themselves...they're all rich, but they can't even cook or do their own laundry!"

 

I just smile. A "game with a purpose". It works.

[evmori]

What we always did with our kids (son & daughter) was if they were signed up for something, they saw it through until it ended. If they didn't like it & didn't want to sign up again that was fine, but they had to replace it with another activity we approved of. And watching TV or playing video games wasn't an activity we approved of.

[Apache Bob]

I have to say I was lucky. My wife and I had three sons. My adult Scouting started when my oldest came running out to the carport when I got home one day telling me that he wanted to join the Cub Scouts. He heard about it in school.

Well, to make the story short (if a Scouter can do that), all three sons are now Eagles.

I cannot remember a time when one of them wanted to quit. I was just lucky and the Pack and Troop programs were good.

Thirty some odd years later I am on a Troop Committe with my oldest son the SM. Two of the boys in the Troop are my grandsons.

I do like broccoli but cannot stand Brussel sprouts. Ugh!

[Eagletrek]

It's a funny thing but I never had to force my kids to eat broccoli. They love it and so do I! No, really!!!!!!

 

The same was true with Scouting. My dad introduced me to Scouting but never forced me to stay. He told me all the great things the program offered and as a city kid (New York) I really looked forward to escaping the city and heading to the woods. He and my mom encouraged me and took an "active" and "sincere" interest in what I did. I think that's an important aspect to showing a boy what he does in Scouting really matters.

 

I've handled my sons the way my dad did with me. I introduced my oldest son to Cub Scouting a few years ago and told him that the decision to stay with the program was his and I'd never force him to stay but I'd support him all the way whichever decision he made. He took to the program like a fish to water. The toughest challenge I had was telling my youngest son that he'd have to wait a year before he could join his brother in the program.

 

As with my mom and dad, my wife and I actively encourage and support our boys within the program. I was my oldest son's Den Leader from Tigers thru Bear at which time I was drafted as Cubmaster, a position in which I'm still serving. My wife started by supporting various committees such as Pinewood Derby, Blue and Gold, and Cross-Over. Within a year she was the pack's Advancement Chairperson. We've kinda' made Scouting a family affair.

 

 

 

 

[Gunny2862]

With regards to the food it was a simple issue of "This is what we're having, there isn't anything else." He eats what he likes and skips what he doesn't but will try anything on his own. To include catching and preparing crawdads out of local streams - that's a stretch for me.

 

As to life and Scouting, every calendar year or at the end of a given activities season he is able to renew or decline as he chooses but once a season starts we require him to finish out that activity. So far, has only tried to beat the system once - figured out we meant it and he now carefully picks his activities but tends to stay with them over long hauls now. Pretty good for a fourteen year old.

[gcan]

I, too, do 'force' my DS to stay in an activity until the season or whatever is finished, but I don't force 'scouting or else'. It's soo easy for them to get bored at the start when it's all hard work!

 

For example, he was in karate for a few years. he wanted to quit because it was 'hard work'. I made a deal with him to see it thru until he got his brown belt, after that he could quit if he wanted. Well, he wanted.

 

But then he wanted to quit scouts, too, at the end of his Bear year. I kinda agreed because the meetings were out of control and he was learning nothing but bad behavior at them. I pushed him thru to the end of the year (although with less-that-good attendance). Another mom and I discussed (at the suggestion of our kids, lol)splitting off into our own den; now DS is going to get his AOL in a few months!

 

If a kid wants to quit, find out WHY! Our den lost a number of kids because the DL couldn't control the meetings. When we split off, two of the kids came back, two stayed in that were going to quit, AND two more sets of parents elected to come with us to save thier sanity! maybe they want to quit because karate, or football, or whatever is thier priority. Not all kids like the same thing, and not all kids get out of scouting what we'd hope they do.

JMHO!

[packsaddle]

Eagletrek, Wow, that's almost the same with mine. They actually LIKE broccoli! And, fortunately for me, they hate green beans. I get ALL of the green bean casserole! I love it. They can HAVE the broccoli.

 

Anyway, my son enjoyed Cub Scouts and the beginning of Boy Scouts. But he faltered during his work toward Star. I made a deal with him: if he would finish Star, I'd leave the decision up to him and he could remain in scouting or not and I would support his decision no matter what it was. By the time he finished Star, he had decided that he wanted to take on the challenge to make it all the way through Eagle. He did.

 

I'm off to the mountains in a few minutes. Everyone have a nice weekend!

[Horizon]

Pity my son, I guess. I remember overhearing a conversation between him and a friend in Webelos.

 

Friend: "My dad is really pushing me to go into Boy Scouts, but he will let me have a choice. My older brother never bridged and quit after Webelos>"

 

Son of Horizon: "I don't really have a choice. My dad is the Cubmaster and has his AOL and Eagle knots. I KNOW that I have to get my Eagle."

 

I have asked my son to stick it out, even with peer pressure. However, he looks at me and has decided that he has no choice.