Scouts.
The bane of my life right now. UGH!
Today was my first time doing the activity all by myself. ALL BY MYSELF! (Yes, the other leader was there, but she had nothing to really do besides wrangling the boys for me while I tried to conduct.)
It was hard!! SO hard! (Yes, I'm whining....sue me!)
This month's theme is Cub Cafe, which means food. A good topic for me, normally. I planned to have multiple activities in case we finished early, and we DID EVERY STINKIN' ACTIVITY! EVERY ONE!!
First I planned for the boys to help me make some "rules of the den." I sat down with a Sharpie in hand, card stock, and asked them what they thought the rules should be. They gave us some REALLY good rules, so I wrote them down...I think we ended up having 5: Obey the leaders. Respect the building. Respect others (aka no hitting, name calling, or swearing.) No running unless we're playing a game. No interrupting. We wrote them down, and then I asked them what we should do if someone breaks a rule...CHAOS ensued!!
Boys started yelling, fighting, and interrupting like CRAZY! One boy suggested that we take the rule breaker and duct tape him to the basketball hoop in the gym. *BUZZ* Wrong answer. Another suggested that the offending boy get sent upstairs for a "time out." UH....*BUZZ* Wrong again.
I suggested that maybe instead of punishing the offenders that we reward the ones who obey the rules. This was cause for MORE chaos! "Unlimited candy!" "A Ferrari!" "Can we go home yet!?"
After that I figured we'd come up with some consequences by next week, and I proceeded with my game.
The first game was a guessing game. I had taken food stuff, put them in bags, and wanted the boys to identify the food by sound and touch. In paper bags, all the food sounded the same! But when I had them feel the food...they all cheated!! CHEATERS!! Some pulled the food out and looked, others threw the food around...and one boy, who has a twin brother, put flour IN his brother's hair! More chaos!
Then I pulled out some fancy-dancy dice I had created, and the boys were to roll the dice to make a full, and complete meal (rolling either: meats, grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, or fats.) If either dice came up with "fats," their turn was up, and the dice needed to be passed on. I didn't think that the boys would CHUCK the dice all over the room. More chaos!
Finally, I made the boys put their chairs in a circle, and we played a shortened version of "I've never." The boy in the middle of the circle, who didn't have a chair to sit on, had to say a food he'd eaten, and anyone else who had also eaten the food had to get up and switch seats. I didn't count on the boys fighting for being "it!" They REFUSED to sit! (Thanks for following your rules, boys!) Finally, it was the end of the hour (yes, it's only an hour long, but one LONG hour!) So I told them about doing a good deed a day, and sent them on their screaming way.
The bane of my life right now. UGH!
Today was my first time doing the activity all by myself. ALL BY MYSELF! (Yes, the other leader was there, but she had nothing to really do besides wrangling the boys for me while I tried to conduct.)
It was hard!! SO hard! (Yes, I'm whining....sue me!)
This month's theme is Cub Cafe, which means food. A good topic for me, normally. I planned to have multiple activities in case we finished early, and we DID EVERY STINKIN' ACTIVITY! EVERY ONE!!
First I planned for the boys to help me make some "rules of the den." I sat down with a Sharpie in hand, card stock, and asked them what they thought the rules should be. They gave us some REALLY good rules, so I wrote them down...I think we ended up having 5: Obey the leaders. Respect the building. Respect others (aka no hitting, name calling, or swearing.) No running unless we're playing a game. No interrupting. We wrote them down, and then I asked them what we should do if someone breaks a rule...CHAOS ensued!!
Boys started yelling, fighting, and interrupting like CRAZY! One boy suggested that we take the rule breaker and duct tape him to the basketball hoop in the gym. *BUZZ* Wrong answer. Another suggested that the offending boy get sent upstairs for a "time out." UH....*BUZZ* Wrong again.
I suggested that maybe instead of punishing the offenders that we reward the ones who obey the rules. This was cause for MORE chaos! "Unlimited candy!" "A Ferrari!" "Can we go home yet!?"
After that I figured we'd come up with some consequences by next week, and I proceeded with my game.
The first game was a guessing game. I had taken food stuff, put them in bags, and wanted the boys to identify the food by sound and touch. In paper bags, all the food sounded the same! But when I had them feel the food...they all cheated!! CHEATERS!! Some pulled the food out and looked, others threw the food around...and one boy, who has a twin brother, put flour IN his brother's hair! More chaos!
Then I pulled out some fancy-dancy dice I had created, and the boys were to roll the dice to make a full, and complete meal (rolling either: meats, grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, or fats.) If either dice came up with "fats," their turn was up, and the dice needed to be passed on. I didn't think that the boys would CHUCK the dice all over the room. More chaos!
Finally, I made the boys put their chairs in a circle, and we played a shortened version of "I've never." The boy in the middle of the circle, who didn't have a chair to sit on, had to say a food he'd eaten, and anyone else who had also eaten the food had to get up and switch seats. I didn't count on the boys fighting for being "it!" They REFUSED to sit! (Thanks for following your rules, boys!) Finally, it was the end of the hour (yes, it's only an hour long, but one LONG hour!) So I told them about doing a good deed a day, and sent them on their screaming way.
I'm not going to make it! I thought I could, but it's SO much harder than I thought! I keep trying to remind myself that the Lord KNOWS me, and knows what I can do...I just need to have a little more faith in myself. (New mantra: "I think I can... I think I can....")
4 comments:
Okay...I feel bad for you, but at the same time, I'm really trying not to laugh. Boys will be boys, I guess. I hope it starts getting easier for you soon.
scouts....the dream calling:)
I'm impressed with how organized you were! Sometimes that hour seems really long and other times not so bad.
Maybe the boys would settle down a bit if they were assigned to do stuff so they know what its like to be in your shoes. Have one boy each week prepare a "healthy" snack to share and report how they made it. Or maybe have them each bring a copy of their favorite recipe. I'm thinking I might do that with the boys this month since the theme is Cub Cafe. The weather is nice. I want to do a cookout:)
Hang in there!
Maybe you should invite Angela to attend and see your chaos. :) This post had me laughing right out loud. I feel your pain and DON'T envy you! But just know that the primary is VERY grateful for you!
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