Okay, so I'm new at this stuff.  Forgive me if I just want to make money, so I can afford to take my Scouts out for ice cream...

The title of this blog is "How I was Duped into being a Leader - and How You Can Be Too!"  I tell ya, they got me good on this deal.  What happened was this:  four years ago, we signed up my then-seven-year old son for Cub Scouts.  He wasn't an athletic kid, wasn't a rough and tough kid.  He was too shy in social settings, and his ears stuck out.  We needed SOMETHING to get him out of the house and socializing with other kids his own age.  One of the neighbor kids invited us to a Round-up.  It's a big hoo-ha designed to pump up the membership.  The neighbor kid gets credit for recruiting us.  We get a nifty patch for the uniform (that set me back 75 bucks).

But that's okay, cuz my son really dug it.  We got to do some really cool stuff in that first year, and I watched him emerge from his Tiger year FAR more confident than he'd been, and with a bunch of new friends to boot!  BUT that's where the trouble started.

See, they didn't have a leader in place already, for the Wolf Den (the next rank up) in our little Pack.  Seems the tradition was that new parents would step up and lead their boy through the ranks.  I watched all the other parents in our group looking around like deer in the headlights.  You ever hear that saying, "If you can't tell who the fool in the group is, it's probably you?"  Yeah, well, crown me queen dunce and hand me my crown.  I stepped up.

That was three years ago.  Now BOTH of my sons are in the Pack.  I'm a glutton for punishment.

I make it sound so tough and terrible.  And don't get me wrong, it IS hard work.  But I wouldn't have it any other way.  The kids all look forward to what I'm gonna pull out of my magic hat of tricks each week.  What field trip willl we be going on?  What new badge will we earn?  What skill can we master?

Most recently, I taught my boys about citizenship.  We went to Washington DC, no small feat for a group from the suburbs of Chicago.  We learned about Lincoln, FDR, tons of really cool things.  We learned what the lyrics of the "Star Spangled Banner" really mean.  (I'd never broken it down like that before!)  I LOVE what I do, because I learn so much, right along side them.

Tonight we have an Ice Cream Social.  I stayed up late last night getting together everything: all the cherries, whip cream, sprinkles, pineapples, strawberries, chocolate...  I can't wait to get in there and watch the boys when they have their speed-eating contest.  (Look ma!  No hands!)

Really, if you ever get the chance, check this stuff out.  Be a Leader.  It makes all the difference in a boy's life.  And if you can make a difference in one boy's life, well . . . 'nuff said.