Who Is Involved With Cub Scouts?

[katie0128]

Who else around here is crazy enough to be in a leadership role in a Cub Scout Pack? I'm going to be our Pack's Committee Chair for this upcoming year, but I'm actually really looking forward to it. We are turning over all of our leadership at our Blue & Gold (which is probably a really good thing!) and the new Cubmaster and I are planning on some significant changes for next year.

Just thought I'd see which of my cheffer friends I could bounce ideas off of as the CM and I are discussing, planning and implementing our changes.

 

[RebelChef]

Been there, done that, won't do it again. I was involved with my son's for 3 years as a leader and covered for the Cubmaster when he was working. I was also in charge of the fundraising. He and I ended up doing almost all the work ourselves because the other parents were too busy to help out or dropped their kids off like we were babysitters. Too much politics and too much griping by those who weren't even willing to do anything themselves.

Have fun!

 

[kspry]

Back in the day, I was involved with cubs. My son is now in boy scouts.
It is a lot of work, especially with the younger tiger, bear & wolf cubs. They really need a lot of one-on-one attention during projects.

Our den meetings were small and quite fun, but pack meetings were a nightmare with parents chatting in the back and letting their kids rampage. Or just dropping them off, as Marisa mentioned.

(ETA-they would bring the whole family, siblings 2-6 yrs old etc which is fine IF THEY WOULD HAVE WATCHED them.)

I was Webelos overnight camp leader, and I can say without hesitation, if the kid can't attend with a parent or responsible family friend, aunt, uncle, cousin etc, don't let him attend.

another edit - have fun! I don't mean this to be a negative post. My son really grew & is still growing as a result of his involvement with scouting. You will know the parents who are expecting free babysitting within the first 3 meetings. Just ask them to stay, because their son needs them.

 

[straitfan]

My DH is Assist. Cubmaster. Our son is a Bear this year. I was overwhelmed by the amount of parental work/involvement! But our son loves it and that makes it all worth it. I teach 2nd grade, so I try to just help from the background, as by the end of the day they don't want to see me anymore than I want to see them! LOL! The politics and bickering will be there in ANY group of people, and the best you can do is just always keep the best interest of the boys in mind do what YOU think is best. They can get glad in the same pants they got mad in! Good Luck!!!!!!!!!! You'll get so much out of it, I know tha DH has.

 

[wadesgirl]

I grew up in Boy Scouts - even tried Girl Scouts for a year and it just wasn't as much fun. My little brother went all the way up to Eagle Scout so I always tagged along to meetings, campouts, etc. I even learned alot and it was so much fun! My dad was a leader for both the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and is still involved with Cub Scouts with my baby brother. It was a great family experience for all of us! I don't have any personal knowledge of leadership roles but I do hope you enjoy it. Take all you can from the experience! And if you have any daughters, don't count them out just because of their sex. I did alot of fun stuff including building two pine wood derby cars, learning to tie knots, fun camping trips, etc. Just wasn't actually able to join because I didn't have a you know what!

 

[yankeeinontario]

I am a leader with Beavers, the Canadian version of the younger Cubs. Our troop is co-ed, as are all troops up here. We also have girl guides available. I enjoy our troop meetings. We have 25 kids and 5 adults. We take turns with programming.

I am a 4th generation Scout leader and former Girl Scout.

 

[PurpleAngel]

I am currently a Webleos I leader (only 1 more year to go...yeah) and I my other son is in Boy Scouts. It takes up most of the week...leaving little time for shows, etc. But the boy enjoy it.

 

[katie0128]

I'm not worried about any negative comments here... everyone has their own experience with their own pack and they all are different. My DS is a wolf this year, so we have been with the pack for 2 years and are well aware of the problems.

One of the reasons that I'm doing this is because we are turning over ALL of our leadership and the people that are left WANT everything to change fairly drastically! We have some parents that I know won't help, but we also have a good size group (honestly, close to 40%!!!) of the parents that are ASKING what they can do. They can't take on a large leadership role, but are willing to do ad hoc things throughout the year! As far as the bickering, pettiness and politics... that's just a part of life and is going to be present wherever you go.

I'm well aware of the amount of time it is going to take, especially as committee chair - pack meetings, committee meetings (having to clean my house for the committee meetings!), roundtable, council meetings, etc. each month, not to mention prepping for all the meetings and the work that is delegated during the meetings. But I discovered that I really am loving Cub Scouts (almost more than my DS) and truly believe in the mission, so it is totally worth it.

I was just curious who else is CURRENT in leadership with a pack - especially cubmaster or committee chair - just to have another "colleague" to chat with about current happenings, ideas, etc.

For anyone that is FORMER leadership, what would be the best advice you could give? What is the one thing you always wanted to tell your cubmaster or committee chair, but never did?

 

[RebelChef]

I apologize if my post was negative. I will say that my son loved it and I really enjoyed doing it with him. His twin sister was there for every step of it also because although I went through the Brownie leader training, we just didn't have enough interest here to have Girl Scouts. After having my money taken and no refund when we couldn't get enough girls, I gave up. lol She's like wadesgirl, she loved Cubs so it didn't really matter to her. Except she couldn't sell cookies for GS and the Cubs wouldn't let her sell popcorn. That made her mad. lol

The second year I was in we had a leadership change and it was for the better. The people who were over it before were also over Boy Scouts and they were just spread a little too thin. We did lots of things with the boys and always finished our book ahead of time so started getting ready for the next year. The guy who took over as Cubmaster was enthusiastic and always had good ideas for the kids. Setting up the committee was part of the problem because there never had been one before. The ones who chose to be on it spent alot of time trying to one-up each other. You know how this goes...Well I have been doing this for X years and this is what we always did. Then the other one says well this is a new beginning so this is what we should do. Yada yada. lol

I think with me it was just that I got burnt out on having to spend so much time on it. It takes alot more than you realize when you first volunteer. The parents dropping off the whole load of kids and then leaving was a pain but we took it in stride. We actually had a couple who would sit through our whole meeting and do right along with us although they were too young to join. A couple of the parents were there every meeting, too. I think it's like with any organization. You have a few who do it all and the rest who want to sit back and watch. All the leaders we had were dedicated and really enjoyed it. It's alot of work but if it's something you like, then go for it and have a blast. One of the things that made it easier is that we held our meetings at a local church. They were our sponsors so nobody had to deal with the cleaning house part. We made sure the church was clean before we left but it was a central meeting place so worked out well.

I can't say I never told our cubmaster but he knows how much I appreciated his work. He became one of my best friends so it was easy to work with him. I was scared to death the first time I met him because he just looks mean. lol I don't scare easily but he's a teddy bear.

Good luck with it and I hope you get even more out of it than you put in. One of the best feelings is when years later those boys come hug you when they see you.