Anonymous wrote:NP here whose DS would love to do Scouts but I already lead a GS troop and my DH works late. What is the age where it becomes more of a dropoff thing? I would be happy to help for outings, etc. but am too burned out with GS to spend my time in all the meetings.

Np: you can drop off starting in 2nd grade, but I do recommend attending Pack meetings (usually once a month) because the "big information" is shared then (unless you have a good den leader who communicates pack-wide information to his/her den).

NP here whose DS would love to do Scouts but I already lead a GS troop and my DH works late. What is the age where it becomes more of a dropoff thing? I would be happy to help for outings, etc. but am too burned out with GS to spend my time in all the meetings.

Your child should stay in scouts for a few more years. You will have to take him since your DH refuses. Inform the DH that he will be taking over x and y duties while you are picking up his slack. Your husband's attitude is pathetic.

Can you work with the troop to establish a rotation for the parents so every parent doesn't have to stay every time? Then you could probably coordinate a carpool so someone else is covering the meetings you can't attend.

I co-lead a girl scout brownies troop with 16 brownies. They can get pretty silly. We have the rule that at least two parents have to volunteer to stay, sometimes more, so it's no more than 4:1 girls:adults. A couple of the moms tend to be frequent volunteers; some moms never volunteer and just send their kids with other parents.

I've been debating cub scouts for my 2nd grader. He's already doing a couple sports and after reading some of these comments, I'm thinking we would be over committed if we sign up for cub scouts. My husband works a lot and we have another younger preschooler to look after. :-/ good luck to you.

Parenting is so hard, especially when we aren't on the same page with our spouse! You sound like a great mom who is trying to do what's best for your son. Continue to share your feelings with your husband to help him understand the importance of socialization in your son's development. At his age, it is equally as important as his academic experience. A lot of schools are also cutting down the amount of recess time which limits socializing during school.

If your son is fine either way, it may because he senses his dad's lack of enthusiasm for the activity. Our kids feed off of our emotions. I would sign him up and encourage your husband to give it a try. Let him know you'll help as much as you can, but really would like his help on the weeks your work conflicts.

Could your husband have a difficult time socializing as well. Rather than thinking of him as lazy, maybe let him know you realize it may be difficult for him but that you appreciate him and let him know how much it means to you and your DS. Boys at this age have lots of energy. It may seem unorganized, but the leaders might also realize it helps the boys focus later if they have a chance to burn off some of the energy first.

Hope things go well and you find a compromise everyone can live with!

We did cub scouts for 1 year. DH works FT in DC. Weekends we always have family plans. Scouts is a big commitment. We found other activities for our DA. Sports-sometimes/his choice, riding bikes, just being a kid in a busy world. I'd drop scouts, personally. It's way too chaotic and too much time!

Your kid will socialize as much or little as HE wants! Do family fun stuff, bake brownies, but play tennis, play PS3. Ask DS what HE wants to do. He may say he just wants to read, write, draw, computer. Let him be him!

Good luck!

FWIW, our troop has a bunch of single-mom and two-mom families, and many of them are leaders. Always lots of moms around!

Not all cub scout packs are the same, maybe find a different one. Some packs are more organized than others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not that it's ideal, but I'm curious... can't parents start dropping off in 2nd or 3rd grade? I was under the impression parents only "had" to attend through 1st.

Our troop is pretty big and the kids get pretty overexcited, so the leaders have asked us not to drop off if at all possible.

So tell the leader it's not possible, and have DH drop off.

So, basically tell the leader your DH is lazy and that's why he just wants to drop off and make the other parents do his job.

Anonymous wrote:

Not that it's ideal, but I'm curious... can't parents start dropping off in 2nd or 3rd grade? I was under the impression parents only "had" to attend through 1st.

Our troop is pretty big and the kids get pretty overexcited, so the leaders have asked us not to drop off if at all possible.

So tell the leader it's not possible, and have DH drop off.

I would take hm as often as I can and see if there is another family that can take him on days you can't, with your DH just picking up at the end of the meeting. Then talk to the den leader and say there will be some drop offs but the only other alternative is to drop out and you really would prefer to not do that if at all possible.

Hire a young attractive babysitter for DS who will do scouts with him!