Today is Christopher's first Cub Scout meeting. A new troop is forming of 1st graders at his school and we decided to give it a try. It seemed like a nice way to solidify friendships he's already forming at school and enjoy the "testosterone" things they get to do in Cub Scouts that Christopher adores -- hiking, camping, fishing, building camp fires, shooting bows and arrows. Those are things that his dear old mom just doesn't provide enough opportunities for.

Greg is actually kind of excited about it, too -- he did Weebalos (pre-Cub Scouts) and Scouts and enjoyed it as a kid. And the structure will provide nice tie-ins for father/son bonding time as Dad joins in on weekend outings. Another nice thing about his particular troop is that their main goal is having fun -- they'll earn badges but they aren't badge-crazy --some troops really are -- getting kids set on Eagle Scout status right away. Christopher's troop will earn badges but that won't be the focus -- it will be fun and friendship.

Another funny story -- we bought the Cub Scout handbook, as is required. You never know what books will inspire young readers to sit and read a book by themselves unassisted. For Christopher it is Star Wars books and the Cub Scout handbook. He was reading it cover to cover, frequently telling me some interesting fact he had learned about scouting. Hilarious!