I hate to admit this but this is our 5th year of cub scouting and I've come to dread pack meetings. :/
My son is one of 2 Web2's and he is big for his age. I can't count the number of times I've had to get him to stop messing around (wrestling, playing tag, etc.) with the younger kids. Not only is it not good behavior, he's twice their height and weight and someone could get injured or feel bullied. Even if the other kid starts it [which they DO because their parents don't pay attention to what they're doing.]
He's told me he is eager to get to boy scouts so he doesn't have to set an example for all the little kids at the meetings.
We have no gathering activities–I used to try to put something together but I gave up–I'd have something set up, the kids would want to just run around instead and the parents and leaders would let them. Or even get them stirred up when they were sitting down.
We rarely start on time, half the leaders are in the back of the room chatting and the other half are scrambling to do their part of the program. Or both–when your tiger den leader is also the recruitment chair it's hard for him to choose, I guess, between chatting up new parents and keeping an eye on his den.
We have the boys sitting in the front row of a horseshoe and the families sitting behind them–which means it is extremely easy for the boys to get distracted and into trouble. And they do.
I've heard more than once that our pack's messy, chaotic pack meetings have cost us members (at least 3 that I know of, in the past year). We're on our 4th or 5th cubmaster since our family joined the pack in 2006. It doesn't seem to matter who's in charge. I love our den meetings (well, I'm the den leader =) the campouts and outings are great–but the thought of going to pack meetings just makes my stomach hurt.
Any advice for my pack meeting burnout?

Yes, you're right about the pack being what it is. It is really hard to change when everyone's gotten used to it being this way. Our former cubmaster made some attempts at change but it wasn't terribly successful. Somehow there's an atmosphere that you can't tell someone else's kid what to do (except I do it all the time, making the boys and sibs go sit with their parents)–and you can barely tell your own kid what to do without getting "the look".
We do the "no touching" thing, but because it's not universally enforced–it's like the younger kids like to see him get in trouble so they goad him into it. Not maliciously, but they just don't know when to quit and no one really makes them quit. Last meeting it was a Bear, they were waiting in line for the relay and the kid kept trying to play with my son's belt. My son told him to quit and the kid says, "make me". I was across the room at the time. My son told him again to cut it out and the other kid said "make me". So he grabbed the back of the kid's shirt and stiffened his arm so the kid couldn't reach him. And, of course, the other kid starts to holler. I made them both sit out. :/
I'm trying to set up some meetings and outings with a couple of boy scout troops starting next month. [Did I mention our web transition assistance is practically nonexistent, and it's taken me a month just to get contact info for even the troop that the majority of our boys cross into?]
Half a dozen more pack meetings and we're done–these boys are so going to be ready!

I've talked to our UC about it in the past–he's seen our pack meetings and he knows that it's cost us members. His primary comment is that more discipline is needed. Um…gee, thanks. :D
Most of our DL's are trained as is our new cubmaster. I see glimmers of improvement here and there but it's hard to keep them going sometimes. :/

Re: troops–I've been working with our UC to get troop info. I also got the email of one of the scoutmasters when they attended last spring's crossovers, but apparently either he doesn't check it much or I'm falling in the spam filter. Maybe I'll check the beascout route–but that would mean they'd have to be using it, right? I don't think a lot of the units in our area have gotten on board with it yet. We're getting a new DE in a few weeks, we haven't had one for a couple months. Maybe things will improve.

At this point, I think we're just going to continue to slog through. I was thinking of trying to introduce some kind of totem or prize for pack meeting behavior–but if it was by den that would mean they'd have to remember to bring it back the next month–and if it's by kid it's really hard to keep track of. I think I'll just go with the praise-the-positive approach and try to finish out on a good note.

Shawn, thanks for your thoughts. :)

Re: the pack–I could say the same–it's easy to see the problems with it. Honestly, outside the pack meetings I think we're doing OK. Campouts, derbies, our summertime stuff all seems to go pretty well. I think the primary difference is the level of planning–our campouts are planned starting 2-3 months in advance, and we end up with a full slate of activities and good participation by leaders and parents to make everything go. We haven't gotten the knack of pack meetings–and at this point it may be hard to change before we're done with Web's.

Re: my son–to me, his statement was more out of frustration than anything else. He loves scouting, is an eager learner and wants to do well. I can understand, he's tired of getting in trouble for doing what everyone else is also doing before the pack meetings, during the activities and during the award ceremonies. I know I won't be sitting right behind him at boy scout meetings–he's perfectly capable of taking responsibility for his own actions. It's just a heck of a lot easier when your peers are doing the same.

Re: after crossover–I really don't know that I want to jump right in to something new when my son crosses over. I may be suffering a dangerously contagious level of burnout / cynicism by that point. Plus when someone takes over my current positions (that would be secretary, newsletter editor, de facto pack trainer, summertime chair, and assistant scoutmandage admin), after I've given them some tools I'd like to give them some space to do their own thing as well. [Has my CC been talking to you? She's ready to move on as well..she'd love for me to take over =] Maybe I'll consider the matter, see if there's somewhere I can make a difference without being a nuisance.
However, once I figure out this Webelos transition thing for myself I'd like to be able to help other Web den leaders with it–but I really don't know about doing it for our whole district (that's 48 packs, sounds scary).

No dig taken–I've been around Teh Internetz long enough (first usenet post: 1991. yes. scary.) to not take things personally at first blush. :D It did give me food for thought, though.

I'm going to have a chat with my WebII's before the next pack meeting, and with the CM. Maybe we can work something out where the boys and I provide distractions..er..helpful activities..? to fill some of the dead space in the meeting and do some kind of gathering activity that is more constructive. I've also been doing some mini-award ceremonies for the 2010 ribbons that the kids really seem to enjoy–I've kind of been hoping some of the other DL's would pick it up but they haven't. We've done the Water of Scouting and putting the ribbons in balloons (filled with the Spirit of Scouting, of course), we also used the one-finger-on-the-jar activity from the program helps (with the ribbons inside the jar, pinned to cards with scout trivia on them.) No one else wants to get goofy like that, yet. Our new CM may get there.

I'm also going to talk with the boys about their emerging leadership roles more–maybe they can think of better ways to help their peers get with the program. Last night we met with the WebI's for a joint den meeting and I was pretty proud of my 5th graders, explaining the Boy Scout Law to the 4th graders [they still had to look at the paper for reference but they did better than I expected]. I think they got a kick out of it–want to build on that. Also see if we can get the CM on board with more public praise for the behavers.

I am still honestly torn between trying to improve things this year and just keeping my head down and letting it ride–like Liberty said, it's hard not to let the senioritis take over. If my son was enjoying himself @ the meetings I probably wouldn't work at it as much as much–but I'm going to have to give my mirror a lot of pep talks and push through with a grin for my li'l den's sake.

Post edited 3:28 am – September 12, 2010 by moonshake

You're describing my pack meetings…  And I'm the 4th year Cubmaster.   It's anarchy.   

I think a simple gathering activity that requires some thought helps a lot to keep things less recess-like.    3 that I find that are reliable are just putting a few 25 piece puzzles on the tables.     Boys jump to them…  some work on them alone…  some together… parents usually help.  

Another is the "guess what's in the bag".   Have about 6 or 8 paper lunch sacks with items (preferrable ones that aren't too tough to spell) and give each boy an index card.   They have to reach in the bag and guess what the object is by touch (no looking).   Siblings and parents can play.   Boys tend to settle down because the gears in their heads are smoking from trying to spell "orange".

Last is the trusty word find.    Crosswords aren't as appealing for some reason.  

I'm looking forward to the day that I don't have to have to be in that perpetual brainstorming mode for pack & den meeting stuff.    This is a lot of work, but the kids/families that put in their effort do get benefit from our time, so that keeps me going.