Not Jason’s Thing
After all the Scouting experiences earlier in life I envisioned this to be the grand finale with my son as excited about Scouts as I had been, full circle, and the bonding opportunity for me to be his scout leader, first as Cubmaster then later as Scoutmaster, with many camping trips and other scout events together. Didn’t happen!
Well . . . my son is not me! Never was and never will be. He put up with it for two years, enjoying some trips and other activities, but Scouts was never “his thing” and not the least bit a priority in his life as it had been in mine, even though he too was not into sports.
First, it was the “Dad Thing” – embarrassed by and never wanting his father as his leader in this or anything else he did. I similarly tried being his Sunday school teacher one year and that too failed. I was so excited about everything we did in the Cub Scout Pack with other fathers helping me, though none as “into it” as I was and neither was Jason.
Second, Jason was a rebel, an artist/musician, who prided himself in being “different” from the majority; the ones he called “preppy.” At age 7-9 it was barely showing but became more obvious as he turned into a “hippie” teen, dropped out of high school and art school and became a “trans.” While one of his best friends, his age, was an opposite, very excited about Scouting and went on into a Boy Scout Troop (That I didn’t lead because Jason would not participate.) and later that boy earned his Eagle Rank, inviting me to his ceremony, knowing it was important to me. Many times I’ve realized that I have influenced a lot of other people’s kids more than my own. Sighhhhh. That’s life! But glad for the influence on them! 🙂 And maybe more on Jason than either one of us think! 🙂
But We Had Some Good Times Together
I always let parents present new ranks and awards to the boys in the pack meetings when the parent was there, and I enjoyed presenting Jason with many. It possibly meant more to me than him, but he participated and did like making the Pinewood Derby racers and other activities.
He liked games and active things we did in the meetings and I’m pretty sure he liked most if not all of the camping trips and special trips like the cave exploring and he loved being outdoors and still does today (maybe my influence?).
So even though he did not want to graduate from Cubs into Boy Scouts, I think he benefitted more than he would ever admit! 🙂
Our biggest adventure & camping trip . . .
Crawling through narrow passageways. 
The Night in the Cave! 
Breakfast in the Cave. 
A Grandfather who helped often. 
We toured big cave before “exploring” tunnels. 
Crawling through narrow passageways.
My Finale Wasn’t As Planned – But Not Bad! 🙂
My last Scouting experience did not end as I had planned or hoped, with more continued involvement with Jason, but it was two years of good experiences with him that he liked more than he would admit and I also got the satisfaction of knowing I had helped a lot of other kids begin their life adventures, one of whom in later years invited me to his Eagle Scout Award Ceremony – so yeah! Not what I planned for Jason – But not bad! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
And a different look at this in my Nashville Cub Scouts Gallery with Scrapbook Pages.