Jacob is done with Cub Scouts. He's moved onto the bigger, less parent-centered world of Boy Scouts. It wasn't long after he exited that we had another enter however....
Mason turned 8 in May and we started working on his Wolf badge.
Working through the requirements is a good impetus to have all kinds of important discussions with your child. We've had these talks before but it's always good to revisit them: what to do to stay safe in your home and out of it; what good manners are; what kindness is; how to be healthy, etc.
We've been working on his cooking requirment this last week. He helped me make dinner one day, set the table AND washed the dishes. He's done all these chores before but usually one at a time. He really got an idea of what it takes to put a meal on for a family by doing all on one night.
Another part of the requirement was to "plan an outdoor meal". He's been so excited about planning this one but for one reason or another it keeps getting set aside. With the weather cooling I figured we'd better just plan a day and then make it happen no matter what.
Several Months ago his Grandma Donna had given him a bag of S'More fixings: a box of graham crackers, a giant hershey bar & a bag of marshmallows. We had put this "somewhere safe" and then couldn't find it and figured it had been thrown away by mistake.
Well, over conference weekend, we found the bag of goodies tucked away in a cupboard and we knew it was time to plan!!!
We decided that we'd do it Monday night for FHE. We kind of dropped the ball after making that decision and he forgot to plan a menu with his dad but Monday afternoon I decided we'd better move forward so he and I came up with a tentative menu and he called his Dad for final approval. Mark approved so we went to the store and shopped for the ingredients.
Hot dogs
buns
bananas, apples, strawberries and a peach for fruit salad
chips
sour cream for dip
He helped me wash and slice the strawberries. I've never had him slice anything with a sharp knife before so he was pretty excited about this. I cut up the apples and the peach but he drained the mandarin oranges, sliced the bananas and folded in the vanilla yogurt.
He also helped make the chip dip.
Our big bad boy scout took charge of starting the fire in his father's absence. (He was still at work) He got dryer lint and his pocket knife to make kindling. He was very serious about the whole process and wanted to do it all himself. I tried to help, indicating that I had gone to girl's camp for many years and learned to start fires myself, but he was very dubious about my having the proper firestarting knowledge that he has gained in his 14 month sojourn as a boy scout. I tried to be patient and let him be in charge.....
It was very hard.
But between the two of us, we did get the fire going.
That's all that matters.
Of course after a day of very lovely calm weather, just as we got our hot dogs 0n the roasters, the wind started. We persevered.
The wind would whip in spurts and then calm so it wasn't too bad.
Everybody had a good time
Especially our Wolf who got it all started.
That's why I love Cub Scouts....
It pushes us
to have moments like this.
4 comments:
I'm glad you love Cubs, I so hate it. It is a trial of my faith and patience. I'll be glad when he's in Scouts and I don't have to worry anymore.
I am so impressed with him that he is actually working on his cooking still. We didn't get a chance in our class to help the boys plan the menus properly. I was planning on calling the boys to my house this week to help them more on it. Most of them did not follow the food pyramid and make sure they had healthy well balanced meals. Sounds like Jacob did a pretty good job.
When the world falls apart and we're working together as a ward family to survive, can I borrow your Scouts? And maybe your daughters for amazing moral support (read: both of their testimonies touched me deeply yesterday). I'll share my Sun oven ...
why does Samantha have her foot wrapped?
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