Kids do the "darnedest things"

Sometimes our children do things that make us either laugh or cry. Like Elder Wirthlin's conference talk a few years ago, "Come what may and Love it". It is always better to laugh at ourselves. This will make you laugh too.

My new calling is Wolf/Bear scout leader. There are three of us so that there are atleast two of us at each activity according to scout guidelines. Between my work schedule and kids games and activities of my fellow leaders, we usually end up with just two at a time. Anyway, yesterday our scouts were in charge of the flag ceremony for pack meeting. Our Wolf scouts brought the flag in. I stood behind the "Denner" or lead scout and helped him call out the directions to the color guard. They were a bit nervous but did great. After the flag was posted we all returned to our seats. We have a new Scout Chairman and he had no idea he was to help "coach". I didn't know I was going to be in charge so I had to "wing" the commands. It went ok.

As a leader, I am entitled to wear the "Den Mother" uniform or yellow scout shirt. I have refused to do this on principal, since I think they are awful. I was wearing my regular clothes, shorts, pink shirt and sweater. This is what I looked like:

So, as I was returning to my seat, I passed Madi sitting next to me. Jared was sitting behind us with Drew and the remaining 30 parents were spread out between two sides of the primary room we were in. You can see that I have darling roses and details on my top. Madi was very interested in them as she reached up with both her hands, as if she was grabbing apples and squeezed the flowers and my chest. Jared, Drew and the 20 other parents laughed. I turned bright red, and said "Well, that was nice". The friend next to Drew turned three shades of red as well. My friend and fellow leader, sitting next to me, said, "I guess we didn't do the flag ceremony right, everyone was laughing." My response, "No, they were laughing at me."

Adam receives his Arrow of Light

Adam is a Webelos scout. He has been in this den since his last birthday in January. He received his Webelos badge in April. He decided he wanted to get his Arrow of light in six months. I helped him stay on track by taking his book with us everywhere we went. When we went to Moab for Spring break, he did two activity pins, Naturalist and Traveler. For the Naturalist, we looked at the rocks and plants in Arches. We found Indian paintbrush and Yucca on our hike to Sand Arch. It was educational for all of us. For the Traveler pin, Adam learned to read a road map and how to follow a compass of a map. We talked about how to follow directions in a car and on the interstate. I don't remember how I learned to read a road map, but I enjoyed teaching him how to do it.

Now after six months he has earned 9 activity pins--Artist, Outdoorsman, Readyman, Handyman, Traveler, Craftsman, Scholar, Citezen, and Fitness. He knows the Scout Motto and Oath. The Arrow of Light is the highest award a cub scout can earn. They had a fun ceremony for him and another scout that earned his award as well.

We painted his face like an indian and got to do the "El Toro" cheer. They place their hands on their heads to make horns and yelled "El Torro" three times. Since Adam is a "bull in a china shop" occasionally, we found it to be very fitting. We are very proud of him.