This morning we went to Saffron Lane sports ground ( the 1st time I've been there in 25 yrs) to join all the other local Cub troops and to participate in the a sports badge program. It was great fun. Henri's Dad (a lad from Nat's class and Troop) & I agreed to look after one group. So there we were with 8 (later 9) 7-9 yr old boys and boy did we have fun! I don't remember being so out of control at that age, but then again I was the perfect child. It was exhausting just keeping them together, moving the from event to event was a major challenge.
1st up was the long jump and everyone managed it, with varying degrees of success. We moved on to the Sargent jumps (stretch to a mark on the wall then leap up to see how much higher you can get). On the way from this I foolishly took the short cut down the steep bank and slid most of the way down on my arse! Wow did I look cool in front of the kids - dignity at all times - ah.
Onto the Shuttle (running back and fore) again all got through to greater or lessor extent. However by now discipline was becoming a problem. Henri, who's huge for his age - tallest there and probably the youngest - was starting to get bored and decided the best way to alleviate this was to hit people. Unfortunately he's as strong as he is tall and that's when we started to have tears. Eventually he was told off by both his Dad and me and so decided to have a good sulk.
What was astonishing was the lack of self-esteem of some of the kids. At every event one lad in particular would insist that he wouldn't be able to do it. What on earth have his parents told him all his life to have an attitude like this, as it was he did virtually everything successfully.
Nat was pretty well behaved, as always, very active but knowing when to stop, most of the time anyway. Got on really well with Dave (Henri's Dad) and all our guys got enough points to earn their badges. Deb told me that she'd told Arkala that I would be glad to help out at Cubs on the Mondays that I'm not working and it appears that I have in fact been drafted. All in all a good morning.
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