Six years ago last month I ran my first pack meeting as Cubmaster.  Over the past six years I've developed a lot of thoughts and opinions on both scouting and the  Cub Scouts, but now my wife is thoroughly done with listening to them, so I needed a new avenue to express them.  So, here we are.  Life Among the Cub Scouts.

As a kid in the 1970's, I loved being a Cub Scout.  I loved the books, the uniform, the badges, Boys' Life Magazine, everything.  I did go ahead and cross over to Boy Scouts, but it never really took.  I guess I didn't really have the inner drive or gumption to get beyond 2nd Class.

Yet, when my oldest son brought home the flyer for the Cub Scout School Night, I wasn't sure if I wanted him to join.

I was aware that the Scout movement had a reputation for having become very socially conservative. I knew about the Dale decision (Supreme Court case allowing the Boy Scouts to discriminate against gays).  I also knew that adult leaders had to sign something called the "Declaration of Religious Prinicples".  This was scary stuff to me.

However, he was so excited when he came home from the school night (my wife took him, I stayed home and looked after the our two younger sons) we couldn't possibly say no.

School night was held in the spring and the program didn't start in earnest until the fall, so we got a copy of the Wolf Cub Handbook at the library and started learning the Cub Scout Promise and Law of the Pack.  I shared his excitement as we flipped through the pages. My misgivings about the BSA remained, but I was just as excited as Son #1 to do all the fun stuff!