Rusted Sky

At the end of the First Act, I made allusions to that dreaded act of nepotism.

Yes, 'tis true. I am indeed indulging in that foul and despicable practice. Why should I do such an evil thing? To favor my own son, and put him in a bit of control over the other guys in the Den?

Expediency.

According to the books I've read, (and I've gone through one or two of them) the time before the meeting is the 'Gathering Time'. And one good use of that time is to have the 'Denner' get the guys prepped for the meeting, with some of the activities that we're going to do IN the meeting. Like teaching a knot, or whatever. One definition I read said

WEBELOS SCOUT DENNER

The Webelos Scout denner is a Webelos Scout who has been elected by secret ballot by the Webelos den for a short term of office, usually three to six months. His responsibilities are determined by the Webelos den leader and Webelos den chief, and might include such things as leading ceremonies, preparing equipment, setting up the meeting room, greeting new boys and helping them get acquainted, assisting with tricks and puzzles, or other worthwhile tasks.

Now, I'd like you to bear in mind that we recently had in the Den two guys who were prone to mild violence and acting out. The first order of business, after the opening ceremony (and there WILL be an opening ceremony each Den Meeting) was to establish rules for the Den. Before that, however - I had a little speech for the guys.

I reminded them that they were WEBELOS. They were NOT Bear cubs, NOT Wolves, NOT Bobcats, and THANKFULLY not Tigers! As such, I expected certain things of them. I expected them to learn what we were teaching. I expected them to act like WEBELOS, not Tigers! It was kind of a kick to see how they were lapping it up - I was loud, I was telling them what I expected and that it was going to be tough... but I was boosting their egos while doing it.

Then it was time to come up with the rules. The starter rules were...

1. No Nosepicking.
2. No Farting.
3. No Wedgies.
4. Be Polite.

This drew a lot of laughs, which was the intent. One guy proudly announced he was going to start giving himself wedgies - and I told him to go right ahead, but don't share that information and don't wedgie anyone else because the law was against giving OTHER people wedgies.

I asked what the first rule should be. It came out as a cross between "No fighting" and "No teasing", so it ended up as "No fighting or teasing."

The second rule came almost immediately and was unanimous - "No Bullying" - when the guy who was attacked in the last meeting told what happened.

I was going to wipe out the wedgie rule - but they insisted on keeping it. This is probably a good thing - I'm not fond of wedgies either.

Number 4... there was no objection to. The guys were all pretty polite (for 9 year olds) and I didn't see a problem.

And then Rule 5 came up. I suggested "Do Your Best", but they didn't like it. Then, noticing one of them looking out the window... I suggested "Focus!" They put it to a vote... and it was unanimous.

Five rules. One for each guy. (I still worry a bit about the Wedgie rule, though.) A nice little microcosm of laws there...

Then it was time for the first game. I had originally planned three, with two of them involving knot-work. The first game was called "Knot-It" - I'd call out a knot, they'd do what they thought it was - and if it was right, they took a step forward. The game was over when one reached the far wall. As it was - they're going to need to work on their knots a bit... but we had three win at once. The prize?

A uniform inspection! I went through a full-bore milspec grade inspection, pointing out the missing and wrong things with humor. It was all I could do to keep from laughing at times, and I think the guys enjoyed it too. I reminded them they were WEBELOS - not Tigers or Bears, who could be excused such things! And they were supposed to wear the uniform right! What would someone think if they saw a Scout going around with his shirt half-untucked, missing a hat, his neckerchief askew, and (oh the horror!) missing his socks! Heck, even I was wearing the right socks! (And I proved it, to much laughter...) I tweaked and folded and had them tuck in their shirts - they looked pretty good at the end of it all.

Then the Den Leader did her thing for a few minutes - explaining they needed to choose a Patrol Name. The name we had - Eagle Patrol - was already taken by the folks who split off from the Den. A list of alternative names were offered, and the guys voted on "Blazing Arrow Patrol." So we're now the "Blazing Arrows"... which considering some of the other possible names, was a very good one.

Then it was my turn again and I gave the guys a choice of two games... "Izzy-Dizzy" or "Lifeboat".

They chose Izzy-Dizzy.

It's a pretty simple game - you run out, turn around a point seven times, bent over and touching the point with your hand - and then run back and tag the next one in line. If you can. The guys loved it, to the point where I had to actually stop the game to go back inside for a snack, and then the Den Meeting was over.

Overall - it was a success. The weather was perfect for a meeting. The guys had fun (I overheard one tell another it was the most fun he'd EVER had in a Den Meeting) and I... I had fun too.

I've gotta tell you, I was expecting a pretty tough crowd, so I was doing my best Drill Instructor imitation, scaled down. The guys went along with it and were having a LOT of fun. I was able to keep control of the meeting, keep things moving, and keep them focused. (Rule 5!)

In the end, I came away feeling like I could do this, and do it right. It helps when you can get the guys to WANT to do it with you, and do it right, for themselves.

But the irony is not lost on me that this is probably about as far as I could get from what I thought I wanted 20+ years back. I was pretty negative on the idea of having kids - so much so that I'd thought about surgery a few times to keep it from happening. And I can look back at how far I've come... and I'm very surprised at the distance from who I was then to who I am now.

The world is indeed a strange and wonderful place. And I'm glad I'm this Den's Assistant Den Leader.

J.