So you’ve signed your little Monkey up to join the local Beaver Colony, they go every week and have lots of fun learning new skills and making new friends.
But what’s in it for parents? Here’s 10 things that I’m pretty sure all parents will soon learn when their child signs up for Scouts
1- When they go on camp, you can more or less guarantee, that your child will put their wet kit in with dry kit!
2- You have to quickly learn how to sew on badges without sewing sleeves together.
3- There will be nights your son/daughter don’t want to go but don’t be soft and stick with it. Mostly they will come round after a few weeks but if not leaders may be able to help. It passes and is worth sticking with.
4- Keep a jumbo binbag in your car. It will cover a large amount of muddy scouts sitting on the back seats. Will save you a headache if valeting your car later on in the day.
5- When the Cub leader warns there maybe a bit of mud on the walk, read as bring a change of clothes and something to cover your car seats in to take your child home!! (There is never just a little bit of mud when a cub is involved)
6- Doritos are flammable.
7- When leaders say label everything, they really do mean EVERYTHING!
8- You can never send them off to camp with enough socks and they never return with the same amount.
9- Nothing can prepare you for the smell of their bag when they get back from camp. Always send plastic bags for wet stuff – it won’t stop the smell but may make all those clean clothes not smell quite so bad
10 – Putting spending money in with the soap. Guaranteed you will get the money back at the end of camp, as I know my son never washes at camp!
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16 Comments
A great motto for Scouts too might be “There’s never only a bit of mud”
Love the last one. So true.
The other one would be. When they say a unit in closing as they do not have the help. They actually mean it. Step up if you are able as no one else will.
Or your kid will lose out.
Perhaps we should send this out when they join lol
The spending money comment ????
Point 10 is a gem?
I love no 10!! ?
No 2: put a lemonade bottle down the sleeve and you’ll never sew it together again! ?
No 11: “yes, they really do need everything on the kit list. No, they really don’t need anything that isn’t on the kit list”…?
Put the dry clothes in plastic bags not the wet ones. It will protect the dry from damp and smell. If you put wet clothes in a plastic bag the smell will get worse quicker. By the end of a week long summer camp clothes that got wet on day one will smell like they’re starting to rot if they are sealed in a watertight bag for a week. Also scouts might forget to put wet stuff in plastic bags but if they go off to camp with dry kit in bags it will stay dry until they unpack it.
Brilliant! ?
As a leader and a new parent to scout aged child, this made me laugh. With 3 kids and a dog I am astounded that bin bags have not yet been a car staple!
Yes, put name on everything, can’t emphasis this enough . You can guarantee the one item you did not will end up in somebody else’s bag and take weeks to track down.
Seen 10 a few times, and yes the child never finds the money and moans they wasn’t given any, parent has to explain where the money is on pickup >_>
5. I have no idea what you mean, nope, not at all. Not like I’ve returned mud people to parents before, I mean kids. (And yes mud is good for you 😀 )
3. Personally I’d say never force it, some kids just don’t enjoy scouting but may like something else (had kids say we was too strict then joined cadets and enjoyed that, and no we wasn’t anywhere near as strict). Would agree encouraging them to attend a few sessions and talking to leaders.
Smoke smell sticks to everything. Clothing, torches, skin….. Get used to it, learn to love it.
I love the smell of campfire 🙂
It’s the same at Guides!
I disagree with No 2, as I learnt to sew my badges as part of my House Orderly badge in Cubs 50 years ago. They will become proud of their awards because they will have sure bleed on a finger or 2 as part of the years in Scouting.
agree 10 times, also see our charges advance in things they have never achieved before..eg tying shoelaces and having pride in their uniform