Queen of the Woofs

This is the other big news around here:

This is Jeffrey back in September, on his very first day of Cub Scouts.  And who is his fabulous den leader?

ME!

Yeah, I was kind of blindsided when I was asked to be in charge of the Wolf Scouts (second graders) because I know NOTHING about Cub Scouting.  I was worried about what to do with Eleanor and William during den meetings.  I was worried about what would happen to the den after the baby comes in January.

BUT . . . owing to a briefing by the well-organized previous den leader, it’s been a piece of cake.  With school holidays and pack meetings, I only have to be in charge twice a month or so.  The boys meet at my house, so William can nap through the meetings.

Eleanor wears her Daisy Scout uniform as an unofficial member of the den, which is rather adorable.

And the boys are WONDERFUL people.  They are all so smart and excited to learn new things!  I’ve been surprised at the various activities we’ve done that have been completely new to them — like making paper airplanes or playing with marbles and tiddlywinks.  They love squishing instant pudding in a Ziploc bag and then eating it out of ice cream cones.  They are all really kind and considerate to both me and each other.  I love ’em.

Last week, we learned how to hammer nails into a board (wow) and sent everyone home with a birdhouse kit.  We’ve also been on a “history walk” around the neighborhood (they didn’t know how settlers used the neighborhood creek as a source of ice) and learned how to make a chest pass with a basketball.

The funny thing is that as I’ve read the requirements for the Wolf badge, I have been reminded of various library reference questions I’ve received that I know were about those specific requirements.  Such as “Do you have an abridged version of The Jungle Book?” (for the Bobcat badge); “Do you have a book about how different birds use different materials to build nests?” (the “Birds” elective); “Do you have a book that shows how cities change through history?” (the “Know Your Community” achievement).  Heh — I got those questions over and over and NOW THEY FINALLY MAKE SENSE!

The only sad thing is that I don’t know what will happen to our den once the baby comes.  I really won’t be able to do meetings with a newborn (“you boys just work on whittling while I nurse, okay?”), and it probably isn’t a good idea to have a pack of eight-year-olds in the house during RSV season, anyway.  There’s been an effort to get me an assistant who can take over later, but so far that hasn’t happened.  Well, we’ll all have our Wolf badges passed off by January anyway, so that’s a good thing.