These are the days I know

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Some days, it’s not easy to be a Scoutmaster…Today is one of those days.

At last night’s den meeting, the boys made their decisions…4 of 6 were going to another troop. One of them was no surprise. The boy lacks discipline into controlling his behavior and his parents let him do what he wants. Our troop has self-discipline and likes to camp a lot…2 things this boy doesn’t like, and figures that he won’t have to do either at the troop that he goes to.

The other 3 were a surprise, to say the least. One of them really needs scouting, and I don’t think that he is going to get the guidance and support that he needs from the other troop. He is a financial hardship case, and he doesn’t do anything to change that…doesn’t participate in fundraisers and low attendance. I hope that it turns around for him, but once again, not holding my breath.

The other 2, well, I will say that I was very surprised and disappointed. One is the den leader’s son, a boy who has professed to me his desire to be in our troop, as we do the things that he wants to do. I know that he would be a perfect fit with the rest of the scouts, and would be a great asset to 1363. The 4th boy…hmmm, he just wanted to go where one of his friend’s went.

I usually have a faith in things, almost a blind faith. I don’t think that these 4 boys are making a good decision. The troop they are choosing to go to doesn’t have their best interest in mind. They talk “boy-led” but don’t follow it. They dodge the simple questions when asked…

“How much are dues?”

“Who owns the equipment?”

“What do you do for fundraisers and does that go into Scout accounts? If so, how much?”

“How many times a year do you have PLCs? Courts of Honor?”

“Do you work on Merit Badges in troop meetings? Who plans the meetings?”

I went on the visit to this troop with my son, and none of these questions got answered, or some didn’t even get asked. I didn’t feel that it was my place to ask the questions, as I was not sending my son to that troop…we went to that meeting in support of the rest of his den. It may have be construed that I was spying on the enemy, but I have all the scout’s best interest in mind.

So, I broke the news to Sam on the ride home. Sam had been playing with the other scouts, so he was very happy. Once I told him about his den mates going elsewhere, he leaned his head on the window and started to sob a little bit…

“Those are my best friends…” he said

I didn’t know what to say or how to handle it, so the rest of the ride was very quiet, other than the sound of my heart aching for my son. We got home, and I talked to Sonia about it. She said that he will be fine, give it some time. As he lay in bed, I walked in and asked if he wanted to join his friends at the other troop.

“No, I am going to stay with you. Daniel needs me, too.”

With that said, I kissed him and said…

“Well, maybe it’s time to start a new adventure in scouting with some new friends…you will be with me and your brother, and a couple other guys that you don’t know yet. Hang in there.”

I went to bed, still upset. I woke up this morning and decided that I am getting quality, not quantity. My program will survive. The scouts in the troop have come a long way since it’s inception. They are a boy-led troop, they are disciplined…they are what BP envisioned…they are what I envisioned. I just needed a bit more perspective to realize that we are there, now…

Growing Pains

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Well, tonight, I got a call tonight from the Dad of a scout who wants to crossover to our troop. I will say that I am excited, as this scout is from “outside” the unit that I know.

I have been a part of Pack 4363 for the last 6 years, and getting another scout from another unit was something that I wanted. With the addition of this scout, it’s a confirmed 2 for crossover, but the number will actually be more than that.

Sometime ago, the scouts in the troop told me that they wanted to have more scouts in the troop…I asked them why?

I think that they knew the answer, but instead of spelling it out, they just shrugged their shoulders and said “I dunno…” in that typical pre-teen voice. I took it with a grain of salt, knowing that they have always come through in the crunch. I will imagine that there will be some more growing pains, but in the long run, they will do fine.

One thing that does concern me is the faith that the parents will have in the scouts. I have the faith in them that they can do it with guidance, mentoring and a bit of nudging…

Countdown to one hat…

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Yup, it’s true…

At the end of this month, I will only be a Scoutmaster for Troop 1363. It may be short-lived, but nonetheless, I will no longer be an Assistant Cubmaster for Pack 4363.

Yesterday, while I was at Cub Scout College, I got to see some old friends and catch up on things. One of the questions was “what are you up to now?”

About 5′ 10″ I would reply…

But in all seriousness, I told a lot of them that this would be my last CSC, as I was going to be focusing more on my troop, and that’s all. I have been going 100 miles per hour with one foot on the brake, and one on the gas and rarely using the brake. The last couple of months have been so busy that I have lost sight of a lot of different things that are more important in my life. Family….family comes first and I had been letting them down.

So with that, I am moving on to just being Scoutmaster Shawn.

Where to begin…

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I really don’t know where to begin. I haven’t been blogging lately, due to the hectic schedule that I have had pretty much since the beginning of summer. A lack of True North shows, a lack of Scout Nation shows, a lack of Twitter, Facebook and blogging. The real only place that I have been “active” is over on Google Plus.

Speaking of G+, it’s really turned into a friendly place to talk about scouting. Anything from questions to rants to ideas, G+ has really been therapeutic for me. I felt that I am still staying in contact with the rest of the scouting world, but still able to carry on with my day.

Over the past couple of months, things have been going really good. I took Woodbadge, made some great friends and learned a couple things about myself. I also found out the wonderful things that Woodbadge did for ME…yes, for me. The things that I learned at WB will make me a better leader, by helping me and challenging me to make myself a better person. My ticket items will be on another page of my blog, along with my progress. I had a lot of questions that I asked online, but got answers that, at the time, I thought were very vague and not really helpful. For all those who chimed in, thanks for not telling me…

As I work my ticket, I have found that things are a lot better in my house and my unit. I look at things in a different light. Stopping to smell the roses, looking at things from more than one point of view. My leadership within the troop has taken a turn for what I think is the better. I listen more, and take into account everything that the scouts do.

As my leadership has changed, so have my priorities. I have decided to leave the pack as an Assistant Cubmaster…it’s not that I don’t care about the pack, it’s just time to move on for a while. Sam will be crossing in February, and there will be a 6 month gap from Sam leaving and Joe starting, so there is no time like the present to take my leave of the pack.

Onto my other unit, the troop. We have been really successful with the growth of the committee. We know have an advancement chair, and a couple of at large committee members, along with a couple of adults from the lodge who have stepped forward to be on the Boards of Review. Along with the heavy advancement that is happening, things are really good. And for those that may be looking at the “heavy advancement” statement, it’s not that we are pounding the advancement, we are doing the things that we should be doing in meetings and outings, and when any unit does that, they are naturally going to advance.

OK, so as I write this, I know that my schedule will be getting lighter and I really need to get going on some new shows, more blogging and just being more social. Tomorrow, I will be teaching in my last Cub Scout College. I am teaching a new class, called Socially Scouting…a class that I wrote the syllabus and did that as a ticket item. I will also be training a couple of new Committee Members, so I am pretty pumped up about that. But I think that the biggest thing is that I will get to see old friends that I haven’t seen in a while, and get to enjoy their company. TTFN

Where has the time gone?

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I got a message the other day from a reader and listener who was a bit disappointed in my lack of posts and podcasts. Well, I am really sorry. I really hate to make excuses, but I have been really busy, and I really haven’t been able to wrap my brain around recording a show or writing a post. I have SO much to say, but I can’t even really concentrate long enough to get from one thought to the next.

Well, I have decided that I need to defragment my hard drive…that is, I feel that by getting things out of my head, I can clear some of those things that have been on my mind…you know, the little things like sending out the 6 patches that I need to send…Liberty, Harry, Nick, Greg, Jeff and Kevin come to my immediate thought, but I know that there are a couple more. I need to sit down and get some damn shows in the can…Bryan has been more than understanding that I just don’t have the time, and it seems that when we do make the time, the audio turns out like crap…that was 2 months in a row.

I also have this thing hanging over my head…what’s that called again? Oh yea, Woodbadge…in between sessions right now…Patrol Project is done, and now, working towards writing my ticket. I am not too concerned about writing it and submitting it to my counselor. Roy is a great guy, and I am lucky to have him.

Let’s toss in my Troop stuff, and the first Court of Honor that we have coming up this weekend…should be a great time, and it will be nice to see all the boys get the awards that they are due…along with some of the adult recognition that I have in store.

On the career path, I have found a more steady position at a company that I was hired to come and work for a couple months…I never want to be happy about someone losing their job, but I did get more “permanency” due to his termination. I am not going to bash him, but in your career, you are hired to do the job that the employer wants. It’s a simple barter system…you do the work, they give you the money. That’s how I look at it…and now that the other guy decided that he didn’t want to do the work, well, I am going to get the money, because I am willing to do the work.

Back to unit news…still decompressing from last month’s first summer camp…it was a blast and the scouts all had a great time. I am glad that we are who we are…we are Troop 1363, and I love being the Scoutmaster for those guys. We are in for some more great times, along with some not so great times, but that is what makes us stronger…it’s more important that you get up when you fall, than actually falling.

Oh, yea…and Cub Scouts….going to have a new group of Tigers…not me, personally, but I will be mentoring the new Tiger leader(s). It will be fun, kind of like when I was a commissioner, but not as many visits.

And one more thing…I interviewed for a Scoutmaster position for one of the council contingent troops for Bay Lakes Council…it went well, and I think that I have secured one of the positions. I will find that out within a couple weeks…and that means that I have to start hitting the gym a lot more and watching what I eat. Good times

Toss in the Webelos Campout, creating and teaching a Social Media class for Cub Scout College, Scouting for Food, Popcorn sales for the pack and a Booyah sale, I will be busy until the snow flies…and don’t get me started on that, because I still don’t have a snowblower…*sigh

It’s good to be the Scoutmaster…thanks for the vent.