Keeping Expectations Low

Well, I never thought I'd make it to five posts, much less in just two weeks.

My original (unstated) goal was to post two times a week, because my friends who are writers told me that setting goals and deadlines will make you better at writing. This is probably true, if you're a goal-driven or deadline-driven person, but I thought I'd give it a try anyhow.

Funny, though, that I started this as a critical thinking exercise, I've not really had a lot to discuss. I mean, sure, the Health Care Reform bill passed, and was amended. But there's already a ton of press about that, and in my humble opinion, if both sides are screaming about it, then the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, which is where it should be. I'll probably get to more political items later, but I don't want to drive people off too fast with polarizing topics.

Onward. I signed up to be a Cub Scout leader, starting this summer. I was a Scout from about age seven up through eighteen, and a few years past that as a Scout Camp counselor. There are many things this pack does that is different from how my pack was run when I was a kid. Most of it is just that, different. Some of it is just plain wrong, and I plan to try to help them correct these things. As I've been talking to the other leaders, I've found out that none of them were Scouts when they were youth. That hasn't prevented them from leading with the enthusiasm and energy required to work with young boys, and they are the kind of people I want my son to be around.

I keep comparing this to when I coached the Community Ed baseball team. I never played organized ball as a kid, so all I had to go on was, "Well, they need to throw, catch, and hit. Let's work on that." I read a lot of articles on coaching, and drills, and teaching techniques. We worked hard, we played hard; I don't think our team won two games in two seasons. But I like to think the boys had fun.

So, I'll be the third leader in three years for my son's den, who will be 3rd graders in the fall.  This makes them Bears in the Cub Scout program, the last year before the "real" work as a Webelos starts. I didn't want to be a Scout leader, originally. I just wanted to show up, maybe help if I knew something of use. Now that I've actually signed up to lead, I'm having a hard time keeping my growing enthusiasm in check.

I hope I can help make Scouting as much fun for these boys as it was for me. That's not expecting too much, is it?

Until another time,
Salt