OK, let me give you a little background information here... I am a Den leader for my oldest son's cubscout den. I have about 5 active boys, and I LOVE my parents as they are WAY more active than some of my parents from a previous PACK we belonged to. They are easy going, and I really appreciate how they let me "roll" sometimes if we are not on a rigid schedule.
I have been recruiting a volunteer for our Annual Blue and Gold Event. What is a Blue and Gold Event? It is a celebration of the Boy Scout Birthday. We try to do it big because many of our boys are ready to pin on their Rank for the year. It is a HUGE deal. Unfortunately, I have had no volunteers. :( Being pregnant, accepting a position as a parent volunteer for a big school committee, doing my normal Box Tops campaign for PTO, helping PTO with other stuff, going to school, scouts, helping my husband's unit's FRG, and trying to just find time to sit down an monitor my glucose is a lot on my plate... I feel overwhelmed!!! Loving everything, and hating to give up any of it, but feeling like a juggling act is how I have felt for several weeks now!
So I did see the reminder about this meeting we were supposed to have this week. I tried once again to solicit one of my parents to go and had no success. I did send an e-mail to the organizer and told her that I had a FRG event that I needed to attend (I had already missed one of those and got a nasty lecture from my DH) and that I would not be able to attend the Blue and Gold meeting on behalf of our Den. The organizer seemed to understand at least I e-mailed to say I wouldn't be there and that I doubted anyone else would be there either. She was very nice about it.
So this afternoon, I received this e-mail (which I will attach down below for you to read). At first I was ANGRY when I read it. I do a lot for my boys! I lesson plan for the scout meetings, coordinate for locations for meetings or events, I teach the boys about cool things, and I attend most of the leader's meeting and District Meetings... Don't yell at me, my plate is FULL!!!! Then I read the e-mail through... The writer isn't talking about how BAD I am for missing the meeting. His message made me realize that I was over tasking myself! Taking on too much, and not really giving myself to any of it! All of us are busy! Busy with work, school, other activities, shuttling kids to 9,000 activities... We all take on so much that we only give a tiny part of ourselves to any one thing. Then I got to thinking... What am I teaching my kids about responsibility? Am I teaching them that it is okay to be super involved in everything but not really give yourself to any one thing? Not practice it or shove off responsibility to someone else because I am too busy? And then I realized why kids make excuses.... Parents make excuses. My excuses are for not attending things because of a,b,c... My kids' excuses are for not wanting to do a,b,c... I've taught them that excuses will get you out of something. I don't accept it.... Not in my house! I MAKE them do the things they don't want to. But who makes me??? Shouldn't I be leading by example??? Hmmm....
So this e-mail inspired me to think... Re-prioritize things. Maybe I should be dedicated to one or two things rather than stretching myself so thin that I make excuses. It doesn't mean I don't support the other things. I just means that I need to quit the excuses and dedicate myself before the excuses begin...
So here is the e-mail. Thank you, Tracy for opening my eyes!!! Maybe you should consider some of the words Tracy writes... I'm sure I'm not the only one that can take away something from his message!
Last night I attended the first Blue & Gold Committee meeting. Many of our dens failed to send a representative. Den leaders, please ensure you have a rep for this very important committee. How often in our lifetimes have we heard that phrase, “The trouble is...” followed by some negative. If you are like me, you have heard it often.
I heard it in high school when I was soliciting help for a school function. You know the line. “I would love to help with the decorations. The trouble is, I’m having my hair done right after school.”
I’ve heard it as a working room parent for my son. “I’d love to be there and provide snacks for the party. The trouble is, I work and I just don’t have time.”
I’ve used that phrase myself sometimes. When my son would ask me to play a game and I would say, “I would love to play a game with you. The trouble is, I’m so tired from my busy day. Maybe I won’t be too tired tomorrow night.”
I know you’ve heard it, too. The last couple of years the pack committee has been hearing “the trouble is” frequently when trying to fill the leadership of the pack.
I know what “the trouble is.” TIME! None of us ever seem to have enough time to get everything done anymore. With a job, home, spouse, kids, pets, school, sports and other outside activities in addition to Scouting, it’s hard to find any spare time and it’s easy to use that phrase, “the trouble is.”
Now I ask you to stop for just a moment and ask yourself what your child and you personally, have gained through Scouting. If you’re like me, your list will be lengthy. And, through continued membership and participation we will continue to learn and grow. Each and every Scout and parent is important to the organization as a whole. No organization can exist without active members. When asked to help out, please turn the negative, “the trouble is” into a personal challenge to make some time available to volunteer. Our kids are depending on us. Some of the committee responsibilities take very little time.
Your talents and gifts are needed. Give a little back to Scouting. I know it takes valuable time and “the trouble is” you don’t have much to spare. I guarantee the rewards are worth the effort. There is nothing like the feeling you get when a task is completed, the job is well done, and you see the joy and wonder in the faces of the children.
Accept the challenge to find a little time and volunteer. You won’t regret it. “The trouble is” you’ll never know until you try.
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