Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Wanting to Love Scouting

I have three sons that are old enough to participate in the scouting program. Preston is 14. Calvin is 11, and Simon turns 10 next week.  I want to love scouts, really I do. I want o enjoy cracking open that almost always impossible to find book, and I want to work on a project (which requires a bunch of items I don't have on hand.) I want to get super excited when it comes time to buy a new patch, or replace a ridiculously expensive scout shirt.  I want to dutifully keep track of the merit badge cards that they have earned, and really cheer during those pack meetings (instead of attempting. and failing, to keep my other non-scouting children in on the family togetherness that scouts provides.) In short, I hate the expense of the program, the book, the uniform, the badges that I must sew/glue/affix to said uniform.  I hate the guilt involved when merit badges don't make it onto the expensive scout shirt.  I hate the pressure of cranking out a fast, attractive pinewood derby car.  Basically, for reasons too numerous to mention, I am not a friend of scouting... unless you count my forced voluntary friend of scouting donation... which I don't.



I love this picture.  I love how this is so obviously from pre-1950's, the perfect time in history to be in boy scouts.



No comments:

Post a Comment