MY BOYS- What Strange Creatures!

I must admit that I have been pretty spoiled when it comes to the whole scout thing. Rick has always handled it and I really haven't had too much to do with it. Since moving here, Rick hasn't had all the flexibility with his job that we were so accustomed to having in Houston. That means.... I had to take Sammy to scouts. It's not that I am opposed to being involved, it's just that being a homeschool mom, I figure it is a blessing for them to have a break from me.

Both of my boys have always had teachers that have come up to me and praised how good Sam and Ben are in class. They are really good but I just figured it was the teacher making rounds and finding positive things to say about their students. Well, after this night...now I know the truth.

My adventure goes like this:

It is Sam's first night to go to scouts in the area, I assure him that he will make new friends and that it will all be well. He rolls his eyes. We walk into the church building where the combined wards are meeting for scouts and every time I look at Sam he is still rolling his eyes at me. It was a bit chaotic but that is to be expected with aprox 5,000 boys (at least that's what it seems like) running around with mostly men in charge. Finally, we find the classroom that we belong in and they say "Hey, new boy, come in". Sam smiles and walks in but looks nervously back at me. I asked him if he wanted me to stay in the room with him this time since he is just making the transition. He shrugs his shoulders in a non-committal sort of way. I figured that was secret code because it wouldn't be cool to say "Mom, don't leave me". So I walk in and pull up a chair next to Sam.

Now, Sam seems to be the only boy really sitting in a chair. There is one boy in the middle of the room hopping on one foot, doing circles, making some unknown sound. There are two boys on the other side of the room yelling at another kid telling him that he can't be in their group, while rocking on their chairs facing one another (not looking at the leaders). There are three boys in the corner, two of which are cornering another boy with their rears in his face making pretend bodily noises. There is yet one more boy wandering around asking random questions loudly and not getting any answers but not phased in the least. All the while the scout leaders are in front of the room, giving it their best effort I must say, but it seems as if they were unable to hold any attention for longer than about a tenth of a second. I kept looking at Sam who would smile at me, shrug his shoulders and roll his eyes all in that order and then attentively look at his leaders once again as if he were oblivious to all the boys in the room not acting the same way.

After enduring that group for what seemed like hours (was probably more like 15 minutes) the leaders look at each other, shrug shoulders and say "Dodge Ball time". They quickly order the boys into the gym, the boys filter out feeling as if they have really accomplished something in that class room and run wildly to the gym making animal like noises. Sam quietly gets up and walks towards the door. I stand up give him a hug and whisper how much I love him. He looks up at me with his big, sweet eyes and says "What? I always told you what it was like you just didn't listen" but wraps his arms around me and hugs me anyway... just because that is the kind of boy he is!

After the boys leave the room, the leaders look at me, smile and say "Good thing he came in when he did, all the really hard kids aren't in our group anymore." I laugh, being the sarcastic person that I too often tend to be, thinking that they are being sarcastic and they look at me and say with totally straight faces "We are being serious". By the end of the evening I had developed so much appreciation for the leaders (WOW... I am sure happy that I have girls in Activity Days) and realized what a strange boy I really have. He is so calm, sweet and unscathed from the craziness around him. After witnessing a night at cub scouts, I go home and mentally draw out the classroom experience to my husband and Ben. You'll never believe the response I got from Rick and Ben. They say "What? That's what we always told you, you just didn't believe us. It sounds like a normal night at scouts to us." Gosh, I LOVE my strange boys!