....I just have nothing to say. These are one of those times. I'm busy living life and find that when I have a few minutes, blogging isn't one of those things that are on the top of the list....you know, the top of the list is reserved for fun things like laundry and scooping the yard. What? I know you're jealous of my ultra-glamorous life. :)
Spring break has come and gone. The kids and I were in Seattle with my family for the first weekend of it and then we were home - hanging out and enjoying life (and no alarm clock!) for the week. It was great and I have to say, I was sad to see it end. We did nothing of any significance but I find that is a good way to get a break from the routine of life.
This weekend the kids were with Dakota which meant I had time to spend with my bestest chica, Cande and time for spending with Stephanie. It was perfect. Friday night Cande and I went to The Olive Garden for dinner and drinks and I am just going to say it now: The Olive Garden is way, way, way too expensive for what it is. Good food, good drink but the cost was just too darn high. Next time we go back to our regular "food and drink for less" places. It was an experience though, so that was good.
After dinner, we came back to my house, met up with Stephanie and watched The Switch which was a decent way to spend two hours. Cute movie, that's for sure. By then it was late and we all were tired. So much for partying hard. :)
The rest of the weekend was spent with Stephanie just hanging out and spending time together. We ventured down to Clackamas for a few hours and over to Stephanie's house for a few more but other than that, we just hung out together. It was PERFECT.
Today was back to reality. This evening I took Kelton to his first ever Cub Scout meeting and I am just going to say, I might be a bad parent but I really hope he doesn't like it. It is sounding like a HUGE time commitment for *me* which is not what I was looking for at all. I am required to stay through the meetings and there are three a month (!). This means that Kaylen is required to stay as well. The meetings are in the evening and none of the three of us have a lot of energy or patience in the evenings. I would be required to go on the camping trips and day hikes. I am NOT a camping or day hike person. I can already feel my body protesting from sitting on the hard gym floor for an hour. You think it's going to like camping on the ground? Hiking for three miles when my back makes it incredibly painful to walk the length of the mall and back?
That said - I will, of course, suck it up for my child but I really, really don't want to. And next year Kaylen wants to join Girl Scouts. You can just shoot me now.
Seriously.
In my day (HA!), parents dropped a child off at their group meeting and high-tailed it out of there, returning to pick up an hour later. Today parents are expected to stay and be involved in all levels. Including, but not limited to, fund raising.
Here's the thing - I am already feeling over extended with the PTO and my commitments to the school...which benefit my children. I cannot even begin to comprehend taking on more. The thought of it makes me want to hurl. I haven't even talked about the money aspect. I can't begin to wrap my head around that one yet.
Oy. I think I need to go to bed soon. I've had all I can take today and I'm working on only about three hours of sleep between a boy-child who was up twice for an hour last night and the dogs who needed out twice and them started bugging me for food at 5:30am. Did I mention (ever) that it takes me a long time to fall back to sleep after being awakened? It's like water torture for me some night. Time to get the kids to bed and then I'm off to dreamland myself. 'Night Blogland.
5 comments:
What about the boy scouts and their anti-gay leader policies? I always thought that if I have a child interested in Boy Scouts that it would be really hard for me be okay with fundraising for a homophobic organization and letting my child participate in a group like that. However, I don't have kids yet so can't say what I would really end up doing!
Also, surely they can't expect parents with disabilities to do the hiking and camping, and your back is a disability. So odd.
Maybe this can be D's thing with him?
What is the name of Kelton's Cub Scout group? The reason I ask is that I'm a former leader and in our pack, parents were only required to stay with kids at the Tiger/1st grade level. In later levels/years, you could just drop off your child and come back later.
WRT gay "policies", be forewarned that in general BSA is a very conservative group in the U.S. But it's also very regionally diverse, if that makes any sense. It's pretty much the same principle as DADT and then it's directed at the member, not his parents.
There are also religious issues which come into play more deeply in Boy Scouts. I am neither religious nor anti-gay and I felt comfortable being a leader and no one ever called me on it. There are many others like me.
To sum it up, I think it's a really good organization for boys, especially at Kelton's age. And my belief is that you don't change things by sitting on the outside griping about them. Until you put a "face" on the issues, others will just ignore them.
The good news is that Girl Scouts are much more liberal! YAY!
BTW, I've been reading your blog for years and I'm a great fan!
My husband's family has been involved in both of the Scout organizations since he and his sister were young (they didn't have Tiger's back then). My son just bridged from WeBeLoS to Boy Scouts and it's a whole new ball game (5th/6th grade) that just excites him to no end. There is a time committment for the parents at any level, especially if you want your child to get as much as they can out of their experience (i.e leadership skills, teamwork, etc.). And they will make exceptions for Kelton while he's a Tiger - you don't have to take him camping, but an adult you designate can go with him. We've had a number of grandparents or aunts/uncles go! As for the time committment, if you look at the Tiger books and the upper level books, the requirements the boys do are learning experiences that are not all that different than parenting - you just hold your child accountable for them so they can earn their beads, beltloops, etc. instead of perhaps doing it yourself because it's easier. Our pack doesn't even do the national fundraising, as the parents decided they'd rather pay their own way than to have most of the funds go to the council level.
As for Girl Scouts, I have been a leader for 8 years - started when our oldest daughter was in first grade. I perhaps spend a half-hour a week preparing for meetings and then an hour with our girls. It's one of the most rewarding experiences I've had with our daughters! And now that we live where their Grandma lives, she's involved again with the troop, too. Our girls do sell cookies, but it's one of the things that they chose to do and they have SO much fun doing it!
I also agree with anon in that the BSA has rules but regionally the packs have the freedom to choose. We have never had an issue with gay or anti-gay parents nor with those choosing who to (or not to) worship. It's just not been an issue and the leaders don't allow it to be an issue - because the BOYS are what's important.
And frankly, if you look at the resumes of most of our top leaders in this country, nearly all of them will be Eagle Scouts or have earned their Bronze, Silver and Gold in Girl Scouts - or at least participated for a few years in either organization. There are even scholarships for college that are ultimately decided because a child has earned his Eagle or Silver. I can honestly say that every one of our children have continue (or not) in their Scout programs because THEY chose to do so - and they all beam with pride when they are asked about their experiences. To me, when my child has that much fun participating in an extracurricular activity, the time committment on my end is worth every second.
Um yeah, a BS Den that required me to stay through all the meetings and go on the hikes, etc. wouldn't have been one that my son would have been allowed to join. I just wouldn't have had the time to make that type of commitment, single parents with more than one child do have limits. When my son was in BS I dropped him off at meetings.
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