Cub Scouts are us.

After nearly 40 years, I have recently reentered the world of Cub Scouting with my son's entry into a local pack and den. Since I figure the boys are going to be involved in this sort of thing for a long time I decided to jump in as an Assistant Den Leader. I chose assistance over actually full fledged den leading because there was already a den leader for my son's den and I'm going to be going through this for a long time. I've seconded guessed that decision a few times.

One of the key points in Cub Scouting is for the boys to have fun. FUN. and MORE FUN! This is something I need to remind myself of a lot. Watching six children who are not my own attempt to hijack a meeting that is going over their head can often lead a leader into forgetting that the meeting is for the kids, not the adults. Order is nice, and important, but to expect constant order is pretty silly. That said, it is also important to keep the meeting on the kids' level and not waste the kids' time.

I'm noticing that having an agenda, and a Plan B for a lot of things is really important. Also important is not trying to do something that you don't have time to do in the hour you're with the kids and parents. Taking home stuff to do or completing a project at the next meeting is OK as long as you have next meetings (lack of meetings is an issue in our den). But it's also important to let the kids have some time to socialize with each other before and after the meeting. Right now it's the dark part of the year and the while the parents want to hibernate the kids are even more wound up from being stuck in school during all the good daylight playtime hours. I suspect that as the Den Leader and I practice our jobs and the days grow longer things will smooth out.

Can't wait.