Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Little boy heaven

Well, I survived cub scout day camp. Or what I will now refer to as the long-lost-wannabe-branch-of-the-military-camp.

Have you ever met a professional scouter?

This is one hard-core group of men who take their jobs at scout camp very seriously. They run a pretty tight ship. They are in favor of sharp commands and crisp salutes.

They will definitely yell when necessary.


They are very pro-NRA and did not stop short of recruiting me and my absent husband to sign ourselves right up.

They do not like you to refer to a BB gun as a weapon. It is a firearm, thankyouverymuch. [Won't make that mistake again. No, siree.]


And they are unaware that they are not actually generals in the Army. Believe me when I tell you, I so wanted to be the person to tell them.

But I didn't. I behaved and followed the rules.


I asked for permission to enter the range (where we shot beans from sling shots). I wore my large, ugly protective eye wear to prevent any stray beans from causing me blindness. I was absolutely still and silent during the BB gun shooting so as not to distract the cub scout shooters who were engaging their wimpy powerful firearms.

Yes, because when holding a firearm, all an eight-year-old boy really wants to focus on is his mother. Not the fact that he has an actual gun in his hands that he has been given permission to use.

Whatever.

And I even stood a safe distance outside of the live missile zone in the archery area. Unlike Mr. Scouting General, Sir! that you see in the background here:

But the boys? Best week of their lives (their words, not mine). All of the guys in our group had a good time. No one died on my watch. No one shot their eye out. No one was kicked out or had their firearm taken away.

And no one joined the NRA that I am aware of.

I'd say that makes it a roaring success. Hoo-rah!

39 comments:

Annemarie said...

AHHHHH Scout camp...AHHHHH! I do not have to attend this year, I just get to send my boys & I'm kind of doing a little dance in honor of that! They do have an absolute blast, though and it is fun to see them having the time of their lives!

SIR!

Bridget said...

I am really fearing this stage of life I have ahead of me. I am so afraid of the professional scouter. On so many levels, they scare me. I am hoping the church gives up on Scouts by the time Ethan is 8. Glad your boys had such a good time though.

CJ, The Purple Diva said...

ATTENTION!

SIR!

YES SIR!

LOL, this was HYSTERICAL!

Kudos to you for doing this!

I was the Cub Scout Den leader for 2 years when my youngest son was in Cubs. I am not sure how I got so LUCKY, to not have to do the summer camps...all I had to do was drop him off!

At ease!

As you were!

Lindsey said...

Awww.. Cub Scout Camp. Boys aren't old enough yet, but the secret is going to come out... I RAN a CUB SCOUT CAMP! That is right! It was my final project for my major (recreation of course) No hard core professional scouters here.. just big ol' softys... Maybe that is just how things roll in SLC... I guess they are gearing up for another malitia there in MO!

Travelin'Oma said...

It's so funny how the world goes round and round. I used to hope the church would dump scouts before my boys got there, and now THEIR boys are doing it all, and loving it just as much.

Hillary said...

My 1 and only son hated scouts. He tried camp, once and hated it. Lucky you to have men running it. I'm pretty sure it's all women out here. I think if my boy got to shoot a bb gun, he'd of gone. You are a rockstar mom!

Sincerely Anna said...

Mr. Scouting General looks like he is quite serious about his job (and in a bit of a hurry.) Glad your cubs had a good time! Great memories for them!

Kimberly said...

I can't get over the beautiful, lush background! We never see such greenery here!

Thinking of Blake and Luke, in a few years with a bb fun...OH MY!

the wrath of khandrea said...

the mr. camper general guy in the background reminds me of the camp leader for huey, dewey and louie.
i'll stop now.


skip LOVES running into guys who think they're military-ish. i pop the popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the show. it's always a good one.

Michael said...

Charlton Heston would turn over in his grave if he read this post...

Hollyween said...

That really does look like little boy heaven. It also looks like husband heaven if I'm going to be honest with you. I can't wait for the day when Levi's old enough. He's gonna LOVE it.

Rae said...

Okay, so NOT looking forward to my little baby boy growing up and entering into the land of disillusioned men. Girl things are sooooo much better. Boy things? Kind of icky. Sigh.....I just don't get boys.

Glad you survived your week!

Jake said...

Oh. I know.

I'm still not recovered from last year. I say I'll never do it again, but it is TRULY a boy's dream come true...so what's a mother to do?

Cute cute shots!!

danandcindy said...

How dare you attack the professional scouter. Don't you know that your own brother is a woodbadger himself? Perhaps it does seem a little too militant. May I suggest that at your next den meeting you give each boy a BB gun, and just let them out in the back yard to have a little fun. I guarantee that by the day's end, someone has shot their eye out, or at least has been shot in the rear end. So, I am glad that you found something funny to blog about, but I think the blog post would be funnier after one of your boys lost his eye to the BB gun "weapon".

Just a thought.

Jane of Seagull Fountain said...

Making me glad, once again, to only have girls. As long as the girl scouts stay all liberal and weird :) -- shouldn't have to do any kind of scout thing like this.

Though the gun shooting does sound fun!

Anonymous said...

Those super-scouters DO take themselves waaaaaay too seriously. I truy wanted to smack them around when my son was getting his Eagle-- and I have 4 more Eagle projects to go!

♥Shally said...

I cannot WAIT until Jax can do this! Poor kid is surrounded by princesses and Polly Pockets. He needs a good Scout camp.

I grew up a tom boy, and was always so jealous that the boys got to shoot arrows while we made beaded leather crafts...

Lauren in GA said...

You.are.so.funny!

I know what you mean about the professional scouters...they are a strange breed, indeed.

I love the way you blogged about it all. Glad they set you straight about the proper terminology and that you will never refer to a, "firearm" as a "weapon" ever again.

I also enjoyed hearing about how you behaved and followed the rules...I know it had to be hard not to correct Mr. Professional Souter Man about there being no Generals in the Army.

Holly (2 Kids and Tired) said...

Professional super scouters are rabid. Personally, I will be happy when we are finally done with it all. Of course, having only two boys, that's a few years down the road. This year, I just have to drop off my son. I don't have to participate, unlike last year when I was Wolf Den Leader. It was a good day when I returned my scout shirt to the sister who loaned it to me!

Emily said...

Nicely done Stie. Now we know where to come when this whole world comes crashing in. I assume you will be building your own personal arsenal soon--

Wendi said...

That little boy HEAVEN would have been this mama's HELL!!!

Kudo's to you for attending.

You. are. my. hero.

Christy said...

Ahem, as a professional scouter - just kidding. My husband and I are very involved in cub scouts - less than a year to go though Wohoo! I have met many an annoying "professional" myself. However, I must say that I love cub/boy scouts! Hated girl scouts. Not into crafts myself. I'll shoot bb's and arrows any day, and btw, I did, but that's probably because our archery "professional" was a woman!

Becky said...

Ha Ha Ha ha...Landon has day camp coming up- end of the month. He is going to be SOOOOOO HAPPY. My sister, Elise, is part of cub scouts and we ALWAYS are busting up when she tells me the tall tales from Round Table. "They" DO take it so so seriously...it makes me laugh. The background guy...and his socks. You just hope they can laugh a little at themselves, too. (But I don't think they do.)

McKay said...

Hey mom don't brag about us. I did get a sucker for shooting one. Well I am so excited for our trip. What are we going to do? I am so worried, will we finish the Kayaks?

Diane said...

Cub Scouts....nothin like em. Sounds like they take their scouting very seriously out there. I'm glad you survived! They've got to be pretty tough if they can survive 90 degrees and humidity!

Nichole said...

I LOVED my first experience with boy scout camp. I've been in the Young Women Org most of my life (including adult life) so the crazy wacky boys were a delightful change. I wouldn't mind at all being called back as some sort of scout leader (not to mention I have two little boys that will be scouts before I know it) So great of you to share and bring back meme

Anonymous said...

LOVE that you added the Hoo-rah at the end... priceless!

Holly said...

You are strong, girlfriend. I could not have contained the pressure of all the laughter, sarcasm and ridicule bubbling over in my brain as well as you.

Those men, those BBguns, I mean firearms, the seriousness. It's too much...

angie said...

Great job mom! What a fun and great experience for your boys- can't wait till Skyler goes!

angie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
frillsfluffandtrucks said...

Oh boy. Is this what my darling two year old angel boy will want to do when he is older? I think I'm feeling faint!!

~ Sarah

diane said...

Those scouters speak a different language. I have two Eagles and I'm glad it's over.

Family Adventure said...

Good work...even if those professional scouters sounded a tad scary...

Heidi :)

Ilene said...

Ah, somehow my husband got talked into joining the NRA one year. We didn't even own a gun. The same year my grandpa died and guess who inherited his old NRA hat as a joke? We didn't sign up the next year. Probably because I threw all membership renewals away.

Lorena said...

I have to, I mean get to go this year. Your post just made me even more excited than I already was (or not).

Melain said...

Oh GAG! You are my personal hero for not breaking the news to the hack generals. I guess as long the kids have fun, we can put up with pretty much anything, can't we.

Emy5 said...

So this is what cub scout camp looks like from the inside. I need to know what my only boy will be doing in a couple of years. (My husband does 11 year old boy scouts, but he's not the militant type.) Kudos to you for being part of that.

Cara @ Gardenview Cottage said...

I'm so glad they boys had a blast! I'm even more grateful that you came out of there alive -what with all those hazzards and such. You always make my day with your posts when I check in and I would be very sad to hear you died via a bean-in-the-eye!

Kristy said...

Glad you survived camp! I'm sure your boys will not only remember camp but also the fact that you were there supporting them. You deserve some of those caramel bars...go ahead eat whole batch! :)

BTW...I checked out McKay's blog. He's done an awesome job! When did you start letting him blog? My daughter's 8, but I wasn't sure I should let her yet. What kind of guidelines/rules did you set for him?