As a Mother of boys...I've noticed a trend...
there are Father-Son Campouts.
There are Mother-Daughter Teas.
There are Father-Daughter Dances.
WELL WHERE IS THE
MOTHERS AND SON BONDING?
And my husband is a super awesome and involved dad who coaches sports teams.
So I've always figured I would one day be a Den Leader for Cub Scouts - of course, I have four boys!
To be completely honest, I was a little nervous about it all. I have served in Young Women's, Relief Society, Primary, and Sunday School. My nervousness centered around the unknown. I know the other programs well. I had no clue about Scouting. I have no brothers.
My dad was never a scout or involved in scouting in our wards.
Well last May I was called into Cub Scouting and now I've pretty much figured it out!
At least I've figured out that I love it! I still have lots to learn.
Our Pack came up with our own little Mission Statement...and it pretty much sums up why I love Scouting:
Building Better Boys and Fostering Friendly Fun through Adventure, Achievement and Advancement!
Combine that with Cub Scouts Official Goals of developing a boy's character, train him in good citizenship and encourage him to become more fit - physically, mentally and morally.
And Cub Scouting's Core Values:
Cooperation, Responsibility, Citizenship, Respect, Positive Attitude, Resourcefulness, Compassion, Faith, Health and Fitness, Perseverance, Courage and Honesty.
I want my boys to learn ALL of those things!
And Scouting provides a great framework to discuss important things with my son! While we have these discussions at home a lot, I think it's important for my kids to see these values reinforced in school, church, sports and scouts!
The Annual Cake Decorating! Ryan's cake got Most Scout Spirit Award!
It was his idea to make a Wolf Badge, my idea to make Blue and Gold cake layers. He decorated the top with spacing directions from me...
and I did the sides as we were in a hurry to set up for the event!
As usual, the kids were doing an activity directed by our Cubmaster before the dinner began.
And I made a banner for our Pack...with our very own Mission Statement!
I hope the boys will feel a greater sense of unity...
not that they will look at our banner and think it's really cool...
but subliminally, be more unified and find purpose in
reading that statement every month and coming to Scouts!
And as I was gluing letters onto this HUGE banner...I couldn't help but think of the HUGE flag that was commissioned by Fort McHenry's General George Armistead in Baltimore circa 1813.
One of my favorite stories...so I'm going to document it...
Armistead said, "it is my desire to have a flag so large that the
British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance."
General Armistead knew that a flag unites its people. He knew that the presence of a flag represents something, in Armistead's case a new country fighting English control of trade and high seas, detainment of American merchants and maintaining National Honor! Soldiers band together to fight with more heart and determination when they have uniforms and flags to unify their cause. And he knew that a flying flag is a symbol of possession, advertising the loyalty of its residents. He knew the messages it would send to their enemy.
After a 25 hour attack on the Fort the British ships in the Bay hoping to defeat the Fort and take control of Baltimore's Harbor{Baltimore was America's third largest city at the time}, the British ships retreated on the morning of September 14, 1814.
That morning, General Armistead ordered the huge flag to be raised as a smaller flag was flying during the attack due to a coincided heavy rainstorm. Indeed the British could see the flag from great distances! It could be seen for miles around—as far away as a ship anchored eight miles down the river, where an American lawyer named
Francis Scott Key had spent an anxious night watching and hoping for a sign that the city—and the nation—might be saved.
When he saw “by the dawn’s early light,” that the American flag soared above the fort, Key knew that Fort McHenry had not surrendered. Key began writing a poem, "THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER" on the back of a letter and spent the next few days composing and perfecting this poem. It quickly became distributed throughout the region and was publicly performed as a poem about a month later.
So this flag was commissioned that measured 42 feet by 30 feet! HUGE!
It has always been one of my favorite things to see at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC! This is how the flag was displayed in the Smithsonian American History when I was growing up. They have since changed the exhibit to preserve the flag better, but I just LOVED walking into the museum and seeing this flag, and on the hour they would play
THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER.
My banner might not be the inspiration behind our Nation's Anthem or pride,
but hopefully it will do some amount of good for the boys of Pack 745!
So I love Scouting.
Whether I'm called as a Scout leader or not, the family is an integral part of Scouting, providing me opportunities to do extra things with my boys and reinforces excellent values I want instilled in my sons.
It was also a sweet moment when after our ward underwent a HUGE rearrangement/split...Ryan overheard someone talking about getting released...and Ryan looked at me very worried like and asked if I was still in Scouts. I told him I was still in Scouts, and he expressed gladness!
Yay!
An excellent program!
