The Pack Wins

Those three words sum up the entirety of my feelings tonight as I sit on the sofa trying to recover from the evening. Have you ever sat in a room with 100+ young boys from 1st grade up to 5/6th grade? If you wish to exit with your nerves and sanity intact I do not recommend it.

So now to explain. I have three boys, two of them fall in the age range mentioned above, one does not. My two eldest boys have recently joined Cub Scouts, a good activity for boys! Normally the boys break into groups based on age, meeting in their respective dens. I have a Tiger cub scout, who being only 6 must per BSA guidelines have a parent present with him at all times. I also have a Wolf cub scout, who being 7 is perfectly OK to be on his own most of the time. I also have a 16 month old who thinks the world is for his touching and tasting pleasure! (This is important to remember) Tonight was the first full PACK meeting I had to attend, this means that instead of having a flag ceremony and then breaking off into smaller more manageable groups we are all in one room, and each den is called one at a time to present their awards and achievements. Yeah, this also means that all the scouts need to sit QUIETLY, and fairly STILL. Hmmmm. I see a problem already, the meeting itself is about 1.5 hours long! So my oldest B is sitting with his Wolves and the leaders and I am on the other side of the room sitting with my Tiger S and of course my Taste Tester Extraordinaire L.

So, both boys joined about 2 months into the year, and as a result had quite a bit of catching up to do. I am happy to report they managed to do just that! So first up at the meeting is the flag ceremony, and those of us not presenting the flags are supposed to be quiet, well it seems my little L did not get that message, he squawked and squealed through that part. Then we are supposed to recite the pledge of allegiance and cub scout promise, of course L is quiet for that. Then we are quiet again as the meeting is opened up in prayer, once again L didn't get that memo!

Next up the awards! Tigers first, and all is well, except that L thinks he should be up on stage with his big brother so off he runs, with mommy chasing behind him. Wolves next, and this time L has decided that he's going to climb through the chair beside us and try and sit with the man behind us, whom I have never seen before but L is quite fascinated with him. He was happy to oblige and so there is my 16 month old on the lap of a man I've never met. Now the man had to get up after wolves because he has a bear cub scout and they are next. B and S did great through the meeting...other than S not wanting to sit still that long. L on the other hand really, really wanted to run that isle, and no amount of bribing with tasty treats and cold drinks was going to change that. Nope, he wanted that isle so finally I gave up and let him have it, except he really didn't want to run the isle, he just wanted the little TINY piece of something or other that was left on the carpet! YUCK! Now we are supposed to be quiet during awards, except when they finish one den we may clap and cheer, well L wants to clap and cheer during the quiet times, so he does!

Finally the awards are over, and we can get up. The big boys get up and go get their snacks, I go outside to find B running playing ball with the other boys, he's fine. So I go and check on S, well his den is in charge of the canned food drive, so he and the other three member of his den are trying to push carts full of cans (carts big enough to hold all four boys and their den leader in mind you) across the grounds to the food pantry at the church! They don't want our help though, because they are tigers and tigers can do it all by themselves! So we just follow watching to be sure they don't hit anyone or anything.

Come back to the main meeting area and B is still playing ball, fine...except why is his neckerchief hanging that way? "B, where is your slide?" I ask "I lost it" he replies. UGH! "Well find it please" I ask. "Good luck on that one" is the reply from the scout master beside me. "My son looses at least 4 a year, I suggest you just make a new one from a rubber band and a matchbox car." Please can someone explain to me why you would make a product for a BOY scout that is so slippery and poorly designed that it falls off every time the BOY scout runs?

We did find the slide by the way, and I will be scratching my head to find a way to keep that thing where it belongs when it belongs there.

Ok, that's the end of my chaotic evening and now we can all come home and rest right? Wrong, S lost two beads from his awards so he's not happy....well, good luck finding two small round beads in the dark, especially when he has no idea where he lost them. I'll have to talk to his den leader and find out if we can get replacements. You know I love my boys, and I love that they enjoy cub scouts, but I don't think I can do this pack thing once a month! I think I need a babysitter, yup a good, reliable, sweet, honest babysitter. 2 hours, once a month, on Monday nights. Any takers?

Birbitt thinks that she needs to sleep, and maybe wake tomorrow ready for more boy chaos!