The Old Folks Home

[blythspirit]

While I don't like to travel, the world opens up when you can travel-- I do my traveling via PBS on TV and public radio when in the car. Nothing like listening to Asian news with a differnt bent to reporting than the AMerican news. ANd National Geographic, and friends like you that share your daughters travels.

My son has an the opportunity to camp with his boy scouts in huts in the winter, in freezing cold, in the next state . . . and I will let him go . . . scouting is giving him so many things that I canont. But I can open the door, and I can encourage him to walk in.

He had to do a speech for one of his merit badges TUesday night- -geez, I shook and squeaked thru my high school speech class, lol, and I didn't want him to have the same experience of waiting until late teens to speak in public. Later at home I asked how it went (I was there talking to a few leaders) and he was not too badly shaken up by the experience, thankfully a good experience for him. At least the boy scouts are a safe place for him to studder and shake-- all listened at full attention and respect.

I love to travel by PBS too. I am a homebody every time we have to be away for any reason, I am nervous about the animals, our house, and property and if it is garden or flower season, forget it. My favorite shows are on England and the castles and different churches and such. It would be a dream trip to go there and tour any of the museums and churches. That would be a wonderful trip to take but I would still worry about 'home' too much.

It think it's wonderful that your son is involved in the Scouts. My nephew just received his Eagle Scout badge. It was a proud moment for the whole family. As far a speaking in public that is wonderful that he is learning at such a young age to do that. I love the moments of our children's lives when you can remember yourself at the same stage..and they pass you up, do a better job of it, or just have a natural skill for it. It is a proud moment to watch them fly. Thumbs up to you for being so supportive and involved.

 

[Arielle]

My son has an the opportunity to camp with his boy scouts in huts in the winter, in freezing cold, in the next state . . . and I will let him go . . . scouting is giving him so many things that I canont. But I can open the door, and I can encourage him to walk in.

Scouts are a great for all kids!

He had to do a speech for one of his merit badges TUesday night- -geez, I shook and squeaked thru my high school speech class, lol, and I didn't want him to have the same experience of waiting until late teens to speak in public. Later at home I asked how it went (I was there talking to a few leaders) and he was not too badly shaken up by the experience, thankfully a good experience for him. At least the boy scouts are a safe place for him to studder and shake-- all listened at full attention and respect.

That's great that he did it! It will help with his self confidence, as it does for every scout.

THis troop is very active thanks to the high number of adult leaders meeting monthly with the patrol leaders. The TUesday announcement was to remind the patrol leaders to be there or sent a representative from the patrol. ( About 10 patrols) My son asked if he could go so he could see what it was all about and prepare for becoming a patrol leader. Holy crap!!! THis kid is growing up!!! Told him to email scout master to get permission as he would be an extra-- now I will have to remind him to email. He's growing up but still doesn't remember everthything to do.

He joined about a year ago and worked hard to reach the first level of tenderfoot, he's alsmost finished with first class, and partly done with second class and the next level. I suspect he will have all these done by end of summer. THen he will enter the 7th grade and I hear it is loaded with homework and projects so less time for scouting extras.

In January we attended the COurt of HOnor for 3 scouts reaching Eagle Scout. THis is very hard to do. Each had a unique service project. State and local politians made speeches. THis troop is very active about teaching kids to be nice, serve others and teach others. THeyblow me away! I see boys be boys, and yet are kind and courteous and thoughtful. Many times my younger son, a cubbie, has been invited to join in: pull up a seat and join in. Older boys come to talk to me, or a leader does. THey lead by example for sure.

HOw is it the scouts can do all this and school is missing the boat? In an hour and a half, there are several meetings, game time as a physical activity, a teaching class, and leaders available to the kids the whole time. THese leaders are all unpaid volunteers.

Just amazes me!!

 

[Pozees]

ChickenCanoe, thank you for not hoarding for yourself the supreme pleasure of reading your daughter's story that ended with, "I love the world." That is one great kid you've raised.

 

[chickadoodles]

THis troop is very active thanks to the high number of adult leaders meeting monthly with the patrol leaders. The TUesday announcement was to remind the patrol leaders to be there or sent a representative from the patrol. ( About 10 patrols) My son asked if he could go so he could see what it was all about and prepare for becoming a patrol leader. Holy crap!!! THis kid is growing up!!! Told him to email scout master to get permission as he would be an extra-- now I will have to remind him to email. He's growing up but still doesn't remember everthything to do.

He joined about a year ago and worked hard to reach the first level of tenderfoot, he's alsmost finished with first class, and partly done with second class and the next level. I suspect he will have all these done by end of summer. THen he will enter the 7th grade and I hear it is loaded with homework and projects so less time for scouting extras.

In January we attended the COurt of HOnor for 3 scouts reaching Eagle Scout. THis is very hard to do. Each had a unique service project. State and local politians made speeches. THis troop is very active about teaching kids to be nice, serve others and teach others. THeyblow me away! I see boys be boys, and yet are kind and courteous and thoughtful. Many times my younger son, a cubbie, has been invited to join in: pull up a seat and join in. Older boys come to talk to me, or a leader does. THey lead by example for sure.

HOw is it the scouts can do all this and school is missing the boat? In an hour and a half, there are several meetings, game time as a physical activity, a teaching class, and leaders available to the kids the whole time. THese leaders are all unpaid volunteers.

Just amazes me!!

That is great that he wants to get more involved! And you are so right, the schools ought to take lessons from the scouts on how to help children be so much more and respectful and want to be leaders!
That's the problem today is there are not enough leaders with good moral standards!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I have traveled England and Scotland-- one castle starts to look like another; and the cathedrals start to look like stacked stones. I prefer the shows on TV that have dug up all the details and stories and use great photography to convey that story. In a group I am too worried about where I am standing to get a good view or avoid stepping on someones toes or bumping into people. THen it is time to go and I hardly saw anything. I do remember climbing to the top of a tor and looking out over the green grenn pasturland for as far as the eye could see, and Loch WIndemere: grey and somber and yet beautiful. Love pasties. Would like to try a few local delicacies.

Took a long trip into Holland 14 years ago-- I can remember it like yesterday. Traveling in a small group of fellow horse lovers talking horse for 12 days, farm to farm and training centers , meeting famous horses and famous farms. Watching 4 days of horses going thru testing and drinking caoffee from 8 am to 10 pm . and THe colusseem filling up with cigarette smoke! And arriving back into BOston, to walk single file as drug sniffing dogs patroled each passenger. HOly crap-- I didn't know AMsterdam is the queen of many illicite activites!! lol At least by AMerican laws.

I had my kids late in life. WHen I was ready to give them all of my time and experience, and apparently all my money too! lol I married a guy that is service oriented. He has volunteered to be a Boy Scout committee member in my place when the scoutmaster asked me to serve. SOmetimes all it takes is asking . . .

Our community is not a community if we do not serve it and others.

 

[ozexpat]

Daughter update. Here's a couple of her messages.

"After a 19 hour travel day, finally arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia! One month of my journey down, two to go.. —"

Wow. Mrs Oz just bought 2 tickets ti Siem Reap for herself and a cousin. Round trip from Manila was $108.

Sounds like your daughter is doing it right

 

[ronott1]

@ChickenCanoe do I have a story for you!

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/ci_252...h-www.dailydemocrat.com-www.dailydemocrat.com

Excerpt from the Article:

Quote:

 

[ChickenCanoe]

...

Thanks you so much for taking us along on your daughter's adventure- it's been a lovely escape from this grey, bitter, hideous winter!
\
...

Thanks. I enjoy sharing. I'm very proud of her.
I'm a state over so I feel you on hideous. I'm in shock.

I love to travel by PBS too. I am a homebody every time we have to be away for any reason, I am nervous about the animals, our house, and property and if it is garden or flower season, forget it. My favorite shows are on England and the castles and different churches and such. It would be a dream trip to go there and tour any of the museums and churches. That would be a wonderful trip to take but I would still worry about 'home' too much.

It think it's wonderful that your son is involved in the Scouts. My nephew just received his Eagle Scout badge. It was a proud moment for the whole family. As far a speaking in public that is wonderful that he is learning at such a young age to do that. I love the moments of our children's lives when you can remember yourself at the same stage..and they pass you up, do a better job of it, or just have a natural skill for it. It is a proud moment to watch them fly. Thumbs up to you for being so supportive and involved.

I don't want to be away more than a few hours with so many scattered flocks of chickens. Seems like there's always something to do.

Europe, Asia and Africa have such long and rich histories compared to the Americas if one discounts the native Americans. But why would you. My family and I have been to almost half of the know Mayan cities in Central America and Mexico. What an amazing culture.

THis troop is very active thanks to the high number of adult leaders meeting monthly with the patrol leaders. The TUesday announcement was to remind the patrol leaders to be there or sent a representative from the patrol. ( About 10 patrols) My son asked if he could go so he could see what it was all about and prepare for becoming a patrol leader. Holy crap!!! THis kid is growing up!!! Told him to email scout master to get permission as he would be an extra-- now I will have to remind him to email. He's growing up but still doesn't remember everthything to do.

He joined about a year ago and worked hard to reach the first level of tenderfoot, he's alsmost finished with first class, and partly done with second class and the next level. I suspect he will have all these done by end of summer. THen he will enter the 7th grade and I hear it is loaded with homework and projects so less time for scouting extras.

In January we attended the COurt of HOnor for 3 scouts reaching Eagle Scout. THis is very hard to do. Each had a unique service project. State and local politians made speeches. THis troop is very active about teaching kids to be nice, serve others and teach others. THeyblow me away! I see boys be boys, and yet are kind and courteous and thoughtful. Many times my younger son, a cubbie, has been invited to join in: pull up a seat and join in. Older boys come to talk to me, or a leader does. THey lead by example for sure.

HOw is it the scouts can do all this and school is missing the boat? In an hour and a half, there are several meetings, game time as a physical activity, a teaching class, and leaders available to the kids the whole time. THese leaders are all unpaid volunteers.

Just amazes me!!

I like to hear of the success stories with the scouts and how they helped.
My experience isn't the same. I think it depends largely on the troop leaders. I was never a scout myself but my daughter was a brownie and son was a cub scout. The brownies were pretty good and had a great leader. One day at the beginning of school year orientation, each of the scout leaders gave a presentation of what to expect. The brownie leader spoke about all the interesting things they had done and were to do. It was impressive and exciting. When the boy scout leader got up, the first thing he said was, "I want to be a brownie." Everyone cracked up.

Not having been a scout and having grown up on farms, exploring forests and fields, hunting and fishing on my own and introducing my son to the same things even before he was in the scouts, I found them to be a let down. I understand there is a big safety issue but everything they did, my son had already experienced, and it seemed more of a sterile experience to me. That didn't bother me or my son because he was doing things with his friends. I understand that it is a great thing for kids that would never have an opportunity to do any of those things otherwise and I admire the organization for that.
2 events turned me off.
First was a father/son campout that we looked forward to. Having camped together since the kids were born, it sounded like fun. I love camping but I'm not fond of heat and bugs so I always camp in Fall, Winter and Spring - avoiding the heat of summer like the plague. I also take extremely good care of my tents. As dirty and rustic as it gets during the day, I want to sleep in a nice clean bug free bed at night after I have bathed. On this occasion, in the worst heat of summer, we couldn't bring our own tent and had to sleep in the tents the school owned. There was no floor, no zippered door, just old flap door canvas tents. The ceiling and walls of the tent were crawling with spiders. I just couldn't bring myself to sleep in there. They also had a swimming pool at the camp. By the time all the fathers and sons got into the Olympic size pool, we were elbow to elbow with what seemed like thousands of sweaty bodies. It was a little disgusting. There was no room to even take 2 strokes. It reminded me more of a Turkish bath. Do I sound like a wimp yet?
The second event was a day they went to learn to swim and or try to win merit badges. All ages of cub scouts and boy scouts went to a pool with swim instructors for all ability levels. To start and determine the group the boys would be in, they had all the boys sit on the side of the pool. If the kid wouldn't jump into the water, they were in the first group. If they got in but wouldn't leave the side - group 2. If they could take a few strokes, group 3. If they could swim at least half way across the pool - group 4. Make it all the way across = group 5. Swim across and back, group 6. My son was the only one his age that was in group 6. All the others were several years older.
I ignored what the other groups were doing and watched group 6. They had to do all types of things like dive to the bottom of the deep end and retrieve things, do surface dives, do several strokes properly with appropriate breathing technique. After the session, it was time to hand out merit badges. When it came time to award the highest level badges they called my son's name. His scout leader interrupted and said he couldn't have it because he wasn't old enough. He was only a cub scout and apparently you have to be an Eagle scout to earn the award.

. I was livid. He could perform every skill as well as the older kids but he couldn't get the badge? I see that as encouraging mediocrity and discouraging achievement. It was just like they told him, don't dare try to excel or you'll be penalized. He didn't say much about it but I could tell he was disappointed. He dropped out shortly thereafter.
Did I say I hated the scouts for that?

 

[blythspirit]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with the Scouts. I understand everyone has different groups to work with and some are surely better than others. You and your son got the short end of the stick..sorry!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

We had the kids in swimming lessons by the time they could walk because we canoed so much and we had a pool where we lived so my wife worried about them.
When my daughter was turning 6 and my son 4 1/2 we sailed the USVI and BVI. We spent our days snorkeling and on one occasion the 4 of us swam from St. John to a small cay about 200 yards away in at least 50 feet of water so they're pretty fearless around water. The scout swim thing was easy for him and it just steamed me that he wasn't allowed to have the award he earned along with kids much older.

ETA
My daughter's an even stronger swimmer. I couldn't talk her into swim team though. I had visions of a scholarship. My son was on the swim team but had to drop out because of a condition they called 'exercise induced asthma'. I think it was the chlorine.