Our Journey Through Tiger Cub Scouting - October 2008 About This Page:

[christiejay]

This is one of a series of posts about our year in Tiger Cub Scouting. If you missed anything you can go back and read about it here - September 2008.

Wednesday, October 1

Joshua has the meaning of the cub scout sign down now so I signed for that in his handbook. Explained the handshake and its meaning. He can do the handshake (after a little practice) but for some reason has trouble telling me the meaning of it. I tried to help him by saying that it was the same as the sign, but it will take a little more work. This is a lot of memorization work right off the bat.

Still have to do a chore together for the family project for Achievement 1 of Tiger badge requirements. Maybe washing/drying/folding a load of clothes. We are about to run out of time this week since we have the campout this weekend, and then our next meeting is Monday.

[Colexis Mom]

Good luck finding a family project!!

[Teresa]

I don't have any boys - so I'm unfamiliar with Cub Scouting.
Do I understand that they have to KNOW what the meaning behind their rituals are? AND they (and you) have to participate in a family project? Is the project something that is supposed to benefit the family? That sounds wonderful!

[Chrissi]

Originally Posted by Teresa

I don't have any boys - so I'm unfamiliar with Cub Scouting.
Do I understand that they have to KNOW what the meaning behind their rituals are? AND they (and you) have to participate in a family project? Is the project something that is supposed to benefit the family? That sounds wonderful!

It's not a 'project' per se, so much as an achievement that each boy works towards. They do need to demonstrate a basic understanding of the rituals, BUT the Cub Scout Motto is Do Your Best, so perfection is not the goal. Challenging yourself is the goal.

Each boy has activities to complete to earn his Tiger Cub badge. There are three categories of activities: Family Activities, Den Activities, and Go-See-Its. There are five themes (Achievements) in each of those categories: 1: Making My Family Special, 2: Where I Live, 3: Keeping Myself Healthy and Safe, 4: How I Tell It, and 5: Let's Go Outdoors. So for each of those achievements, each Scout will have a Family, Den, and Go-See-It Activity that revolves around that Achievement.

1F: 1: Making My Family Special: Family Activity: Think of one chore you can do with your adult partner. Complete it together.
1D: 1: Making My Family Special: Den Activity: Make a family scrapbook.
1G: 1: Making My Family Special: Go-See-It: Go to a library, historical society, museum, old farm, or historical building or visit an older person in your community. Discover how family life was the same and how it was different many years ago.

There are more instructions regarding how to complete these in the handbook, but this is just an example of what Tiger Cubs are doing in their first month to work towards their Tiger Cub Rank Badge. After they complete each activity to the best of their ability, their adult partner and den leader can sign off on their handbook and they'll earn immediate recognition by way of a small ceremony and a bead to add to their Tiger Paw Totem.

When they've earned all 15, they've earned their Tiger Cub Badge and they can begin earning Tiger Track beads (the yellow, disc-shaped beads in the photo below) for their totem as well by completing other enriching challenges. These beads are merely rewards for challenging themselves to work beyond the rank requirements. Some Tiger Track electives can also be applied to other Rank Achievements when they're Wolf and Bear Cubs, so there's even more incentive to continue.

I had to give this explanation to half a dozen parents a few nights ago. I'm just going to print this off for future use.

Some pix I found to put this in perspective:

All Cub Scouts, no matter their age, must earn their Bobcat Rank Badge First:


Earning the Bobcat also entitles a Tiger Cub Scout to the Immediate Recognition Totem:


After he earns all those beads through achievement activities, he'll be awarded the Tiger Cub Rank Badge:


So, even though he's called a Tiger Cub, technically, he won't be one until about 3/4 through his first year. Then he'll begin working on his next rank badge.

[christiejay]

Originally Posted by Teresa

I don't have any boys - so I'm unfamiliar with Cub Scouting.
Do I understand that they have to KNOW what the meaning behind their rituals are? AND they (and you) have to participate in a family project? Is the project something that is supposed to benefit the family? That sounds wonderful!

Their knowledge of the various things doesn't have to be perfect. Like Chrissi said the motto is "Do Your Best". The handbook is clear that there are no performance requirements in Tiger Cubs. The point is participation and simply attempting whatever the project or activity is.

However I am trying to hold Joshua to a higher standard, especially with the Bobcat requirements. (Learn the motto, sign, handshake, Promise, Law of the Pack, etc.) Since these are things all cubs must learn regardless of what age they are when they join I feel that it's important he really learns and understands these things. Also many of these are used each week in the opening and closing ceremonies at their meetings. As we move on to the other activities I don't plan on being quite so demanding on him. But with my OCD tendencies we will see how that plan goes!

Yes, Tiger Cubs (first grade) must have an adult partner who is also registered with Boy Scouts of America. This adult partner must attend all meetings with the boy, and participate in all the activities. While adult participation is encouraged at the older levels of scouting, and we do plan to continue to be involved in some way, I don't believe it is required past Tigers at least not on a daily basis.

The family project (maybe a better word choice would be activity) for this unit is simply to perform a chore together and discuss the concept of responsibility. It's not like a service project or anything like that. Although there are some things during the year that will be service projects.

Be sure to read my entries from September if you haven't already. We've had quite the ups and downs during our first month! It is definitely a learning experience but one that will pay off big the longer he sticks with it.

Thanks for reading!!!

[christiejay]

Thursday, October 2

Joshua has learned the meaning of the handshake. One more checked off the list. I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but as the scout completes each item in the handbook there is a paw print that he can color in to mark his progress. Joshua may not enjoy coloring books anymore, but he sure does get excited about coloring in those paw prints! Funny what little things can excite them.

Joshua also learned the meaning of the salute. He has been able to do the salute for a while now, but we are just getting back to learning what it means. One more check, one more colored paw print.

I had intended for our chore to be doing laundry but I ended up only having one load to wash today so I finished that up while Joshua was still at school. However, the dishwasher did need to be unloaded, so that's what we tackled. Joshua put away the silverware, but that's all he could reach. He stacked everything else and handed it to me to put in the upper cabinets. Then we went over the questions about responsibility that went along with this activity and discussed the importance and meaning of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, October 3

Joshua never has homework on Fridays, so this was the perfect afternoon to sit down and go over the last of the eight requirements to earn the Bobcat badge. This was the one that dealt with all the safety rules that all kids should know, and that are such an emphasis in Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. Things like stranger awareness, possible sexual abuse and internet safety. We didn't dwell on any of these for too long, but I did go over each example that was in the handbook just to make sure that Joshua had a good understanding of it all.

Joshua has now earned his Bobcat badge! When we have our next pack meeting all the boys that have earned it will receive it in a special ceremony. Until then we will continue to work on the Tiger requirements and electives. We just can't receive the beads for the activities until after the Bobcat badge is awarded.

Our campout is tomorrow but I don't really know what to pack so I guess I will wait until in the morning to get everything together. Then I'll see if Jay has any ideas of what I should throw into the bag.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, October 4

We wake up and I get Joshua dressed and fed. He spends some time watching Playhouse Disney while Jay and I discuss our plans. First of all Jay tells me something that doesn't quite sink in at first. Last night was his last night to work the evening shift. Starting Sunday night he will go back to working the night shift, which is what he did up until about 2 months ago. My first reaction was, there goes our Sundays! But now that they are running three shifts he doesn't have to go in as early, so it won't be quite as bad as it was before. It was much later in the day until I finally realized - HEY! - Jay can start going to the meetings with us!!! Now if you remember when scouts started I was so bummed that I was the one to have to be Joshua's partner since I have no scout experience, whereas Jay who does have much experience was not able to participate. For some reason this never crossed my mind when Jay first said he was changing shifts.

But anyway back to the campout story! Basically we just threw some things into the back end of the truck. Tent, ground cover which Jay just bought yesterday (we had to use our old one to cover our roof damage from Katrina), sleeping bags and foam pads, crate of scout-related stuff that Jay has (hatchet, rope, etc.), picnic basket. I threw some clothes into a bag and put some snacks together just for the munchies. We filled up our water jug with ice and water and grabbed a drinking cup for each of us. I put a few overnight bag-type items in a small case, then put that and my wallet and a few essentials into my small backpack which would double as my purse for the trip.

We headed out a little past 9:00. Jay has worked at the camp in the past so we knew exactly where we were headed. Some people from our pack had gone down last night to claim a good campsite and were supposed to put something on the bulletin board up front so everybody else would know where to find them. But of course there was nothing posted. Nobody was in the administration building to ask, so we drove to where they had said their preferred campsite was, and sure enough there they were.

We put up our tent and unloaded the truck. Then it was time to register Joshua's car for the race. This was the annual Akela/Cub weekend for our district. The theme was Cub Annapolis. They had to build a racecar out of a cardboard box and decorate it however they wished. Joshua's looked sort-of like Lightning McQueen in color and decoration, although he was disappointed that they never did make him any eyes.

We registered his car. He was signed in as Tiger-03 and his car was placed into line. There was a section for each level of Cub Scouting. So far the Tigers only had about 6 entries, but registration had just opened. He was given a "registration bracelet" which I thought was cool until I saw it was just an advertisement for the Army. No offense to military people, but you gotta admit, it was just an advertisement. And for cub scouts? They've got a ways to go until they can serve their country in the Army!

Headed back to the campsite. There's a fire going and several boys are walking around with sticks that are smoking on one end. Somebody had come up with the great idea of making spears. It was a constant battle all weekend to keep the boys away from the fire. I was excited to hear that lunch would be coming up soon, but disappointed to find out that it was only going to be sandwiches. Speaking of food, I wrote out the check to cover our share of the food expenses.

We all sat around for a while and Jay got a chance to meet some of the other dads. They were all duly impressed that he was an Eagle Scout and had all that experience. Soon enough it was lunchtime. I had a turkey and cheese sandwich and some Doritos. We had some type of orange Kool-Aid to drink. Haven't had Kool-Aid in ages!

After lunch we didn't have too much free time. We had to report to the flagpole at 12:30 for the flag raising. On the way we stopped off at the Administration building so I could use the restroom. That was one good thing about the location of our campsite, its proximity to a decent potty! Other than that it was just latrines, which I did not plan to go anywhere near.

Flag ceremony was short and sweet. The flag was raised and we were very shocked to see how ragged it was. We definitely need to get them a new flag. We said the pledge and then they made some announcements. Because so many people were registering cars for the races they had to extend their registration time, which bumped the start of the races back from 1:00 to 1:15. Younger cubs would race first while the Webelos went to the shooting range, then the two groups would swap places. I got excited when I heard shooting range. I knew Joshua would like that, and at first I thought that his participation today might start counting toward earning the archery and BB belt loops. However Jay quickly put that idea to rest, stating that he was sure it was simply being presented as an activity, not anything official to earn points. And he was right.

Race time rolled around so we all went to the race course. They chose to let the Bears race first, so we got a good chance to see how things would work. They raced in groups of 4 so it took a long time for them to finish. I was scared they would call the Wolves next, but instead they called Tigers. And since Joshua was one of the first four vehicles registered he should be in the first race. He was, but due to the number of racers and how long it was taking they started racing them in groups of 5 instead of 4.

They had marked off a small race course in the grass. The boys had to go one full lap around, then pull into the pits which was on the back side of the course. The pit crew consisted of the boys' parents, or two adults if both parents were not present. As the pit crew, we had to: 1) wash the windshield - wipe the scout's face, 2) fill up the gas tank - give the scout a drink of water, and 3) change the tires - take the scout's socks and shoes off, turn his socks inside-out, and put his shoes back on. Once those tasks were completed, the scout could then run to the finish line.

We managed the water and face washing well, but turning the socks inside-out was quite a challenge. We went as quickly as we could, and Joshua ended up in second place in his group. He thought he had won because he received a blue ribbon. (The winner of each group got a red ribbon, everybody else got a blue Cub Scout ribbon that said "I Did My Best".) I gently explained that he actually came in second place. Maybe I should have just let him believe he won? But I didn't want him going around telling everybody he did when he didn't ... Anyway it was fun and that was the whole point of the race.

Did I mention it was hot? It was only in the mid-80's but we were in an open field so there wasn't any shade. We took Joshua's car back to the tent and got some cold water to drink. Then it was off to the shooting range with a stopover at the Trading Post. They didn't really have anything that we were interested in, so on to the shooting range. First we got in line for archery but they could only take 4 boys at a time and the line was hardly moving. We could see the BB-gun range from where we were standing and it didn't seem to be as crowded so we walked down there.

The line for BB-guns was not too long. Plus, they could take 8 scouts and there was a 5-minute time limit for each group, so the line moved along nicely. Joshua went in about the third group from the time we arrived. Jay went up with him since they were only providing supervision and not much instruction today. After Jay showed Joshua how to hold the gun and operate it, he managed to get quite a few nice shots in before he ran out of time. They got to bring home their target papers, so that was a nice souvenir from the day, unexpected as well. I'll have to add up his score and let you know how he did.

The only thing left to do this afternoon was archery. The line was still long but we joined it once again. A few boys got tired of waiting and left so we moved up a little bit. As we got closer we saw that it was taking so long because each boy was shooting 3 arrows, retrieving them, then shooting once more. Actually that was nice because the first round could be like a warm-up, then the second round they could try to improve. But ... after a couple more groups of boys went they realized how late it was getting, and saw how many boys were still waiting their turn, and decided that they could only let the boys shoot the arrows once. Joshua was pretty disappointed. If the line hadn't been so long when we left he could have got in line again.

When Joshua's turn came Jay went up with him to help. But he just doesn't have the arm strenth to pull the arrow back far enough. So all of his arrows landed in the grass about 1/3 - 1/2 of the way toward the goal. He was pretty frustrated but now he can say he has tried it, and maybe next time he will do better. We walked back to the campsite and grabbed a snack from my snack bag. Then we walked down to the lake to look around for a little while, then back to the campsite.

Supper was roasted hot dogs for the kids, and chili for everybody else. They even had Fritos and cheese so it was really yummy. Grape Kool-Aid to drink this time. Next up was the campfire program, and all the boys put on their uniforms and we walked down to the Council Ring.

Mainly the program tonight was to hand out awards. There were six awards handed out for the race for each division, based on the race car designs. Joshua did not win anything, but if they have this same theme next year we will know what to expect and can design the car accordingly. In between each group's awards there were skits and songs from some of the packs. Then at the end they called down (by age groups) all the scouts who were new to scouting and on their first campout to get their face painted. It was just a couple of stripes of paint on each cheek, but I knew Joshua wouldn't want any part of it. I finally convinced him, and he had it done. The program really dragged on and on, and while it was nice I think everybody was ready to get back to the campsite.

It was after 9:00, maybe even close to 9:30 so everybody was getting tired. We sat around the campfire for a little while but eventually we all headed off to our tents to get ready for bed.

So sorry but I have run out of time for today! I will be back soon to finish up about the campout!

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great time at the campout!! Colin and Matt enjoyed it as well, although ours certainly wasn't as warm as yours was They did a scavenger hut, had dinner, and then had songs around the fire. Colin got his Bobcat badge, and then was ready for bed at 7:45!! I guess being outside all day in 40 degree weather takes the energy right out of you!

Sunday they had breakfast, and then a fishing derby in the rain! He got two beads (a fish and a bear) for the fishing derby and a hike that he had done a few weeks ago. And a lanyard type thing to put them on.

More please

[christiejay]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Glad you had a great time at the campout!! Colin and Matt enjoyed it as well, although ours certainly wasn't as warm as yours was They did a scavenger hut, had dinner, and then had songs around the fire. Colin got his Bobcat badge, and then was ready for bed at 7:45!! I guess being outside all day in 40 degree weather takes the energy right out of you!

Sunday they had breakfast, and then a fishing derby in the rain! He got two beads (a fish and a bear) for the fishing derby and a hike that he had done a few weeks ago. And a lanyard type thing to put them on.

More please

Congrats on Bobcat! I think our badges are going to awarded next week at the pack meeting.

Tell me about those beads he earned, is that something specific to his den or another area-wide thing? Sounds cool. As far as I know our boys don't earn any extras like that.

[christiejay]

Sunday, October 5
Campout continued

I was the first one up today (out of our tent) so that I could make my way over to the restroom. When I got back both Jay and Joshua were awake. We all came out to the campfire shortly for breakfast. On the menu this morning were pancakes, sausage patties and scrambled eggs, with orange juice and coffee. Joshua got pancakes and eggs but he ended up not liking the syrup. He hardly ever gets syrup anyway so I don't know why he did this time. Me and Jay finished off his pancakes, but he did eat all the eggs. Jay and I had a little of everything, although I did not get any sausage.

I brushed my teeth quickly, as it was time to head back to the Council Ring for the Scout's Own Service. I had never been to one before and didn't really know what to expect. Yesterday during announcements they had called it a church service. We walked in and were handed a program. It was pretty simple and didn't take long. A meditation, a few Bible verses, a couple of songs. One of the cubmasters read a devotion and we prayed.

Before leaving, though, we were in for a little surprise. You could tell many packs had already left, and you could hear from the surrounding campsites that there were many people who had chosen not to attend the service. Well, the lady who was in charge of this event (I don't know what her title would be because she never introduced herself) asked how many packs were in attendance, and asked the cubmaster or another representative from each pack to come down and receive a ribbon. She told us it was very important to remember about a boy scout being reverent, that she felt it was very important to attend the scouts own service, and she was pleased that we had all chosen to attend. Each pack there was awarded the Presidential Award ribbon. It has one stripe each of red white and blue and can be added to our pack's flag.

At this point there was nothing left to do but pack up and go home. We took down the tent as quickly as we could and loaded up the truck. There were a couple of other people from our pack still around so we said goodbye to them and got on the road. It was nice to get home and get cleaned up. It had been so dry and dusty at the camp, that I could feel the dust sticking to my hair.

Lessons learned from our first campout:
1. Don't bother taking the picnic basket just for the plates and utensils, since all that was provided. I had thought it would be but Jay asked and I wasn't positive so we threw it in the truck "just in case".
2. Don't bother packing flip-flops. My thought was to wear them in the shower but I didn't realize the shower situation would be so primitive so we never took a shower there. The boys can't wear open-toed shoes at the camp anyway so that was just a waste.
3. Don't sit in the grass. Later I found that I had received some redbug bites on my ankles. Probably most of you call these chiggers, I believe. The only time I think I could have gotten these was when I sat down to take picture of Joshua at the BB-gun and archery ranges.
4. Pack more snacks! The food was good but I guess they didn't think we would have a very big appetite because there wasn't much of it. I had taken a few things, and next time will take more.
5. Let Joshua sleep in the large room of the tent. I had put him in the smaller side room, but he moves around so much that he kept running into the partition all night long, his sleeping bag making a swishing sound against the tent wall, keeping me up most of the night.

Overall it was a good experience. Our next campout is the second weekend of December and it is called the Polar Bear Campout. Don't know what activities will be planned for that one. The registration form simply says the program will begin at 4:00 that Saturday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday, October 6
Den Meeting

This is the first meeting Jay is able to attend based on his changed work schedule. We arrive and go through the opening ceremony routine with the whole pack. The Bear Den led the opening tonight. Nothing much was said about the campout, which disappointed Jay. He was expecting a whole show-and-tell thing I guess. After a reminder about the popcorn sale we were dismissed to move into our den meetings.

Our den leader Gary was not there tonight. He had told us last week that he would be out of town. Instead we got one of the Bear den leaders to fill in, Tony. He went around the room and asked each boy to tell what chore they did with their adult partner during the past week. Then we spent some time talking about chores and responsibility.

Then we moved on to Achievement 4 (not sure why we skipped 2 and 3) which is about Communication. We played the game where you have to whisper something to the next person, they whisper it to the next person, etc. The last person then says it out loud, and you see how much it changed from the begininng. This is supposed to show the boys how important it is to pay attention when somebody else is talking.

The problem was, only 4 boys were there. So the parents were asked to participate too. Jay was the first recipient of the story, then he had to whisper it to Joshua. It took forever for Joshua to whisper it to me because he kept giggling. When he finally whispered something to me, I could tell it was greatly abbreviated from the original already. And it ended up being such a shortened message that it made it the rest of the way around the circle without being changed any more.

I still think the boys enjoyed the activity, and that's another bead earned! We sat around and talked for a while about listening, then Tony gave us our assignment for the week. Our family activity for this week is to have a meal together and take turns telling about our day. Tony said that in case the family can't eat together, we could instead just find some time at some point to sit down and talk. This activity is to reinforce the idea of communication and listening skills for the boys. There is a page of questions that goes along with this, on the topic of Respect.

And that was pretty much it for the meeting this week. The calendar was finally passed around and I was disappointed to see that it only went through December. I had thought it was going to cover the whole school year. But it did include a field trip to the natural science museum, and a work day at our local nature center. Because school holidays will be taking away 1 meeting in October, 1 in November and 2 in December, the pack will not be going on an overnight trip until after Christmas. Of course we already have the district campout planned, so there's that to look forward to. As mentioned above it is called the Polar Bear Campout. Supposedly if the weather gets below 32 degrees we will all get a patch. I say, give the patch out anyway, just for participating. We will see, but I think this is right because one of the parents said they didn't get a patch last year when the temp was in the 70's. Weather in December in Mississippi is very unpredictable!

Before I left I asked Tony if he had the den records, but he didn't. I had wanted to get Joshua's activities recorded. Next week is a pack meeting, and I believe they are going to be awarding Bobcat badges for those who have earned them, along with the Immediate Recognition Emblem and any beads earned. I don't want Joshua to have to miss out and wait another month. I will just arrive early for next week's meeting to report which things he has completed so that he can receive his awards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, October 7

There is a nation-wide contest at Joshua's school, something about inspiring your career. Two categories - poetry and posters. I encouraged Joshua to make a poster about what he wants to be when he grows up. Maybe he will win something at the school level (they're not really pushing this very much so I don't expect there to be much participation), and I believe he can use the poster (which will end up being more like a collage) to count towards his art achievement in scouts. The deadline is Monday so we will work on this over the weekend.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great time at the campout!! And it sounds like the meeting went very well too

I'll take a picture of his beads/lanyard thing and post it tomorrow. Not sure if it's just special to his pack or what, since I never go to the meetings!!

[christiejay]

Thursday, October 9

This afternoon I made a shopping list of a few things to pick up at the Scout Shop on Saturday.

Since I plan for Joshua to start earning some belt loop awards this year in the academics and sports program, I figured we better go ahead and buy him a belt to put the loops on. I saw on the online store that the smallest size belt is a little cheaper than the next size up, hopefully he can fit into the smaller one to save a couple of dollars.

I also wanted to pick up our own copy of the guidebook for this program. I'm sure the pack leaders have one that we could make copies from, but due to my control issues I think it will work best for us if we have our own copy. Plus there are some projects Joshua is doing for school in the near future that I believe can be used to count toward the art pin, so we will be getting a quick start to the art belt loop and pin requirements. Jumping right in! The pack leaders did mention this program at the first pack meeting, but no details were given. I figure there's no reason to wait on them, though, especially if his school work ties into the scout activities.

I also wanted to pick up the BSA Family program booklet. I had read about it online, and one of the other parents mentioned it at the first pack meeting. To complete the requirements for this award we will have to do 10 different activities. I would like to go ahead and get the book to read about it and see what our options are. Then I can start deciding where to start and when the best time would be to work on them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight was our family meal. This is the family activity for unit 4 which is about communication. We were supposed to have a meal together and take turns telling about our day. Teaches communication and listening skills, table manners and respect for others.

I chose to cook spaghetti because that is Joshua's favorite meal. That way at least I knew he wouldn't complain about the food!

The meal went fine, I won't bore you with the details of our conversation.

After supper we went over the discussion questions about respect. Then I signed off on the activity and Joshua got to color in another paw print in the back of the book.

[christiejay]

Satuday, October 11
Field Trip!!!

First stop was Hallmark because I *needed* some more Christmas ornaments!

Second stop was the scout shop. I quickly found the two books I was looking for, then we went over to the uniform area to get a belt. Turns out this store only stocks the regular Cub Scout belts in the middle size, so we had to pay the extra money after all. I think the Tiger Cub belt was cheaper, but I didn't want to have to get another buckle later, and my OCD wouldn't have let me let him continue to wear the Tiger buckle in subsequent years. So we just got the larger belt since shipping costs from the online Scout store are so high. We spent a little longer just looking around in here. I wanted to check out all the belt loops and pins, and the other goodies they had. I think the pocket certificates are cool. I don't know if Joshua's pack gives them out along with the badges and other awards, but if not we may just get them ourselves.

Next stop was lunch. We can never agree on something while en route. We pulled up to a Pizza Hut in a little shopping mall, but they had no tables inside - it was just a carry-out place. Joshua was very disappointed, but Jay wanted vegetables anyway, so we drove a little further to Piccadilly Cafeteria.

Finally, on to the field trip portion of this update. The "Go See It" for the first unit of Tiger was to visit a library, museum, or an older person to learn how family life was the same and different many years ago. I thought while we were out today we might as well visit the Agriculture Museum. I've been trying to get Jay to go there for years and he never would. Now I know, these field trip are intended to be something that the whole den goes on together, but with our unenthusiastic den leader, I felt that we ought to take things into our own hands whenever possible.

This museum has a main exhibit building that tells Mississippi's history of agriculture and aviation. They've also recently added a train exhibit. Outside there are several buildings that have been moved or recreated to show what a small town would look like - general store, service station, church, school, doctors office, etc. And out in front of the property there are several buildings that haved been moved here to show what a farm would look like - residence, mule barns, corn crib, smoke house, etc. Also a saw mill and cotton gin.

Joshua hung in there much longer than I thought he might. He was impressed with the ice box in the farmhouse kitchen exhibit. He was excited to buy a toy at the general store, even though he had to pay Jay back for it from his allowance money when we got back home. He enjoyed going in the cotton gin, church and doctor's office. Overall it was a good outing, and we now have accomplished one more task on Joshua's way to getting his Tiger badge.

[Colexis Mom]

Great update Christie!!

[christiejay]

Sunday, October 12

Since we ended up being out so long yesterday, today ended up being poster day for the contest at school. The poster contest is nation-wide and is about celebrating what you want to be when you grow up. I had asked Joshua to make his poster as a collage so he could also get credit for it in scouts (the art pin).

Of course I had to start with an explanation of what a collage is. Then I had Joshua write his title on writing paper with a crayon, which he then cut out and we glued to the top of the poster. His title was "I want to be a worker at Nissan". (For those of you who don't know, that where Jay works.) Next I asked him to paint a picture to put on the bottom part of the poster. He decided to paint a picture of himself driving a car on the test track at Nissan. (For those of you who don't know, that's one of the jobs Jay has recently done at the plant.) After the watercolor paint dried he cut that out as well.

The painting ended up being so big that it took up most of the space on the poster. I was disappointed at the lack of space left over, but this isn't my project, right? Jay had cut the embroidered "Nissan" from one of his old work shirts, that got glued on top of the edge of the painting. Jay had brought home a cool Nissan ad with lots of things in the picture that he thought we could use. But the only thing Joshua wanted to use was the Nissan logo, and even then I had to encourage him to do that. Joshua cut it out and we glued it over the corner of his painting. Oh, did I mention the poster is restricted to 8 1/2 x 11? That's why we didn't have much space to work with.

So we ended up with a very basic collage, but for his first one that's fine. We ended up using crayon, watercolor paint, plain paper, cloth and a picture. He was very proud of his poster in the end, telling me that he was going to win. So I may have some more disappointment to deal with when it's all over but I guess that is one of those life lessons that must be learned. Don't know when the judging will take place, so I've got no idea when we will hear something. All participants receive a certificate. The top three from his school receive an award and will be entered on the state level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday, October 13
Pack Meeting

My plan was to arrive early because I knew that this would be a pack meeting, and that the pack meetings are when the awards are handed out. Problem was, our den leader only had half of Joshua's Bobcat requirements recorded. He was out last week so the rest of what Joshua had done didn't get recorded. I didn't want Joshua to have to wait another month until the next pack meeting to receive his badge, so I decided to just get there early and ask the Cubmaster (Tim) about it. Tim said yes, and asked me to show him Joshua's handbook where I had signed off on all the requirements. He then filled out the paperwork necessary to make it official with BSA.

The meeting started out (after the ceremonial stuff) with some announcements. No meeting at all next week because school is out for Parent/Teacher Conference Day. The following Saturday is a field trip to the Natural Science Museum, so they told us when to meet and to wear our uniforms. We were reminded about the popcorn sale and the deadline for the orders and money to be turned in. Then the Webelos den leader announced that they have a date and time scheduled for the Webelos to meet the Mayor if anybody else wants to go along. I'm in for that one, as visiting a government office is one of the Tiger electives. And if Joshua can ask the Mayor a few simple questions that could constitute an interview, which can count toward his Citizenship award. Sounds good to me!

Awards were handed out. The two sons of the Webelos DL had attended day camp at the beginning of the summer, so each earned their Outdoor Activity Award, along with several belt loops and one of the boys also earned a pin. (Apparently this guy's family has been pretty involved with scouts wherever they used to live so they are pretty sharp and knowledgable about all the opportunities that are out there if you just look around a little bit.) Next, several of last year's Wolves were awarded some arrow points. And finally Joshua received his Bobcat badge.

Upon further consideration, I wonder if anybody was offended by the way I handled the Bobcat situation? I probably should have called the den leader first, he might have felt that I was going over his head by just asking the cubmaster at the meeting. He only arrived just before the meeting started so I really didn't have a chance to talk to him about it, although I did notice that Tim handed him the badge and mentioned it to him. Plus I'm sure the other Tiger parents were caught off guard, with Joshua being the only one to get his badge. But at the same time, there are several new scouts in all the dens (Wolves, Bears and Webelos) and none of them received their Bobcat, and their den leaders are all more experienced than ours is. Nobody asked me anything about it afterwards, or said anything that I know of. My mind was simply on my own child.

Our den leader handed out a simple map of the city at the end of the meeting, asking us to go over it at home and locate several places on the map. This is the family activity for unit 2, "Where I Live" that is related to community and citizenship. The den activity for this unit is to say the pledge of allegiance in a pack flag ceremony. The handbook is clear that even if all the boys do is recite it as a group, even as part of the audience at the pack meeting, that it can count. So one more paw print colored in after tonight!

One more note about tonight's meeting: Shortly after we arrived, Tim (the cubmaster) came up to Jay and asked him if he would be the assistant cm. So now Jay has something to look forward to as far as his participation in the pack goes. And I guess for now I will be the assistant to the assistant, keeping Jay organized on whatever he needs to do. Afterwards Jay volunteered his services to create a pack web page. I'm starting to feel more comfortable with some of the other people in the pack, so I'm sure I'll be more active soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, October 14

After school and homework which took FOREVER I pulled out the city map and went over it with Joshua. We located our house, his school and the church. Then we talked about how we drive from one place to the other, following our regular routes. We also found some of the parks, restaurants and the railroad tracks. Another paw print colored in, which makes a total of seven out of the fifteen required to earn the Tiger badge. Joshua was excited to learn that he's about halfway to getting that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A note about these extra things I'm having Joshua do: I think I had mentioned at some point that I made a master list of every award available to the Tiger cubs. My main focus was on the extra "little" things that perhaps not every scout even knows about, or just doesn't participate in. I feel that the more Joshua earns the more interested he will be in scouts. I don't want him to think that it is just a Monday night activity, but that it is a life-long journey and that it can end up being a major part of his life. Of course I don't want to force him to do all this stuff, just encourage him while at the same time reminding him that he can earn awards for all his work. I try to do some little scout-related activity each day.

Now of course the master list I made was too much for just one year, so I narrowed down the academics and sports options to those which have some overlap or correlation to the other things he will be doing in scouts this year. And there are some things he is doing in school that we can fit in as well. So right now, there are three academics awards we are working on: art, citizenship and map & compass. Art because of a couple of school projects (the poster contest and a class project that I'll tell you more about soon). Both of those school projects are for the pin, so we will have to back up and earn the belt loop first, but this gives him a head start on the other requirements. Citizenship because of an upcoming local service project the pack is participating in and the Mayor's office visit coming up. Map & Compass because of the family project from this week which can be built upon. Also, reading over the requirements for this one, it's pretty simple and I feel he should be able to understand it well.

On the sports side of things, we will probably only work on bicycling and swimming this year. If we can also find a simple sports program for him to participate in, that would be good. But it would have to be something that doesn't take too much time or money. There was a tennis program that would have been perfect but the timing wasn't quite right, so maybe they will offer that again in the spring. Ultimate has been recently modified to include disc golf, and I've been wanting to try that myself so we might do that as a family.

I will throw this out as well, for those of you who are also participating in the Academics and Sports program: the www.meritbadge.org website has worksheets you can print out for each of the categories. Places the boys can take notes, and extra resources to help you complete the requirements. I thought they were pretty cool.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad things are going well!! I still owe you that picture!! Hopefully this weekend. Colin also got his Tiger Paw with the beads hanging down at the meeting last night (I guess during the campout they got a bunch of things accomplished)!!

They have their rocket launch on Sunday morning, and then next week or the week after a rain gutter regatta (they make some sort of boat). It's still in the box, so no pictures They did make a great scrapbooking page yesterday.....I'm not a scrapbooker, but I guess there is Tiger Cub paper out there, and he had a picture of himself in uniform, plus some pictures from the hike and campout, and then he addeda bunch of embelishements! It's so cute!!