Surprise! Ian Is Now A . . .

Last night was the Blue & Gold Banquet for the Scouts. I must admit, I am not a very good "Cub Scout Mommy." I never know what to work on with Ian in the book. None of it is very enticing to me. In fact, I never wake up in the morning and say, "Ian, should we go clean up litter in the park today or maybe do a report on conservation so you can receive some belt loops?"

Ian, on the other hand, is very motivated to do scouting stuff. Yesterday morning, for example, I was making my bed, when Ian walked up to me and said, "Mom, lay down. I want to show you what I learned at Scouts on Tuesday." He proceeded to make a splint for my ankle out of magazines, stopped some major imaginary bleeding on my leg with stacks of bandaids, and then said, "I also know how to do the Heimlich Maneuver!" I refused his offer to practice on me, because I knew Nyah had ended up bursting into tears the day before when Ian had practiced the Heimlich on her.

"Ian, do you know you can break people's ribs when you do the Heimlich Maneuver?" He guffawed at my comment.

"I don't even get close to the ribs!" It's no wonder Nyah started bawling, after the hard whack she received to her lower abdomen.

Well, after Ian had shared all of his superior knowledge of First Aid, I asked him what we'd be doing at Pack Night. Would he be receiving a First Aid pin or Belt Loop? "No. I'm not getting anything tonight." He completed that comment with a loud sigh. He gets very disgruntled when he doesn't get any of the infamous belt loops or pins.

After eating 4 servings of spaghetti soaked in marinara and alfredo sauce at the banquet, Ian turned his attention up front to the awards. Imagine my surprise when Ian was called up front (along with Aaron and I; I, of course, still had my hair in a fun bun) at the Scout Banquet to receive his Webelo's patch. Ian a Webelo? That means he finished all of the goals in his book! I thought about questioning the leaders, but then thought better about it. If they think Ian earned his Webelo, I guess he earned his Webelo! Ian put the Webelo's pin on me without stabbing me in the chest, gave me a quick peck on the cheek, and recited the Scout Oath and Scout Law unenthusiastically. What a proud mom I am!

I ended up just chalking this award up to a small list of miracles that seem to occur each day in my life. Ian is a Webelo and I didn't even have to open the book. Watch out 11 Year Old Scouts. Here we come!!


Me looking on in shock as Ian receives his Webelos patch!


After the pinning! No pokes this time! If you look really close at my upper right "lapel" you'll get a peak at my new mommy scout pin!


The fancy placemat Ian made for me to eat my spaghetti off of!


Ian enjoying the taste of his new Webelos patch!