To not do the at home camp for beavers

[Fragglerock10]

The nice bit of me is thinking I am being a complete grump but I feel so stressed
On top of school work for our 6 year old we also have activities to do from youth group, drama and beavers.
Drama want us to do mini films and put them on their website and they are giving out certificates. youth group want us to film us doing various activities. Beavers want us to complete badges, a few weeks ago we did a at home campfire on zoom.

Today beavers want us to do an at home camp. Except our tent is too big for our garden so they want us to make one out of sheets in our front room. They want us to zoom with the pack leader and others for a few hours singing songs and doing activities etc. Then we are supposed to all sleep in make shift tent.
It want to shout “enough”. In between us both working full time, home schooling plus normal parenting trying to fit in everything else. I am knackered after a week of night shifts, DH is knackered after working from home and looking after DS most of the time. I just don’t have the bloody energy. DS won’t sleep well downstairs

The final straw is Tic-tac putting a post on social media saying we need all the beavers taking part and not to be lazy

[modgepodge]

Presumably this is an activity you pay for, for your child to have fun? There’s no requirement to take part?!

[mogloveseggs]

They said what????? That's absolutely ridiculous.
I'd be sending an email to the pack leader about that (brownie leader here). There are lots of parents still working and they should realise that it's completely different to packing a bag and waving them off for the weekend.
Oh and I'd be scaling back the drama etc a bit too!
My son is a cub and camping this weekend and tbh I wish we hadn't bothered and I'm furloughed! They did one a few weeks ago that was quite relaxed but this weekend is full on.
To top it off I'm ill today so the most we have done is put the tent up. If we get through it all we do but if not oh well.

[Pleatherandlace]

I’d give that a hard pass. You need to enjoy your life in the present not spend your time filming or zooming your life to show how much “fun” you’re supposedly having.

[Mixingitall]

The lucky people who don’t work full time or that are furloughed are having a lovely time.

The rest of us full time working parents are blooming shattered, and super annoyed at the lovely ideas that others have to occupy themselves. Don’t tell your son what’s going on and just delete the emails. Your son is 6, the boys won’t be talking about it when they return to Beavers in September.

Right now, think to yourself that you multiple incomes in your household, it may be hard but there are benefits!

[myself2020]

Similar here - most parents on furlough and local primary has told parents to treat this time as an extended holiday. so kids and parents have tons of time.
Only we are working fulltime from home, and oldest doesn’t go to the local primary, but to a school with a full day on zoom (and we have a toddler at home as well).

[Hugglespuffed]

Of course you don't have to take part. I'm a Brownie leader and we did the camp at home for the scouts World record and the girls LOVED it. Can't your child sleep in the den on his own? He could make a den on his bed, it doesn't have to be the front room!

[Thingsdogetbetter]

"I'm sorry my internet connection crashed" is the excuse for any of this bs during lockdown. Or mn favourite non-excuse "that doesn't work for me".

[TimeWastingButFun]

It sounds a lot all together. I'd do it if it's something your kid would love, otherwise if they're not bothered at all don't worry!

[UnderTheBus]

Well OP you've made me feel much better. I am a Brown Owl but we havent done anything online for our Brownies - due in no small part to the fact I had a baby 9weeks ago. Lots of other brown owls are doing virtual badge work, zoom meetings, virtual camps and I've done nothing but post a few articles and say "if you want to do a badge at home that's great, ask if you need help".

So now I'm feeling much less guilty if half the parents would resent it anyway

[Fragglerock10]

It’s not that I resent it. It just there is quite a bit of pressure. It should be it doesn’t matter if you do it or not

[nicky2512]

I feel your pain. My son is currently not taking part in a cooking session with scouts. I feel so bad but the ingredients list was vast with lots of things I don’t have at home so would have been quite expensive and also hard to get.
I also don’t even own all the equipment required!
Money is tight at the minute so he had to give it a miss.
He doesn’t care as he has no interest in cooking but I feel awful.

[purpleme12]

Wow that's really bad

Our beavers have been really good. No pressure at all. No zooms (although and suggested it I said to be honest I'm not sure my child would interact)
They've put ideas up on Facebook of activities for us to and my child has got her camping away badge during lockdown just for sleeping in her den she made herself and pretending to make a fire.
Things like that. They know it's harder for some than others

I would be really pissed off if I were you

[Mumoftwo12345]

If you've paid subs they have to do this stuff I guess.

[BackforGood]

The remark wasn't appropriate.
However, the Leaders (all with their own changed home situations) are doing their best to offer something to the young people. Of course you don't have to do it. It is there as an offer.
That said, it is pretty depressing when you put a lot of work into setting something up (around your own home, work and family life) to not have many join in.

We are all in a strange situation. Do what suits you and your family at this time.

[ClaraEccles]

Our Scouts group has gone CRAZY since lockdown.

Loads of events, not only normal meetings, but loads of stuff at weekends.

Monday was the first day in six weeks, weekends included, that I didn’t work

On VE Day, some bright spark of a parent (on furlough no doubt) came up with the idea to hand make loads of decorations for the scouts to display in the background on their weekly zoom call.

I emailed the scout leader at that point saying we were taking a few weeks out.

Crazy.

[purpleme12]

Gosh this makes me glad ours beavers is like it is

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

That's ridiculous.(and I'm a Cub leader).
I'm getting a bit of leader guilt we can't do online meetings... But everyone one of our leaders (except me) is an essential worker working long hours. I'm at home with my two children who are both struggling in different ways. We do our best around that- but it's not a lot.

[MintyMabel]

Lots of other brown owls are doing virtual badge work, zoom meetings

Our brownies are doing zoom meets and as DD is badge obsessed she has been doing lots of badge stuff. I have to say, it’s been brilliant for her to be able to do it. But her Brown Owl is also a NNICU nurse so when there’s weeks she can’t do it, we all understand. We know you’ve all got lives too!

[purpleme12]

Thing is it's the being together side that my child likes/benefits from so all this would be no good for mine

[OptimisticSix]

We're not doing anything we don't have to foe the exact reason it was all too much! Don't do it if you don't want to!

[MsTSwift]

The first week of lockdown my work went mad Dh two and was homeschooling and dealing with distressed kids at same time and the retirees in the street were pestering us that we should all crochet stuff and hang it on trees on our road for the nhs (Road next to hospital). Just ....no.

[MsTSwift]

Too not two

[greenlynx]

I would expect them to put suggestions of activities and maybe even do a competition but not for badges. I also would expect the activities to be widely described (like bake something rather then bake lemon and lime cupcakes) or to be very specific but easy to do (like draw a rainbow). Our dance teacher was putting a few activities on FB page but it’s optional.
It’s not the same as to drop your kid to the club and then drive off to a supermarket. You have a lot of other things on your plate.

[Oneofthosedreadfulparents]

As a trustee of a scout group - yes, there is certainly pressure to continue to offer alternative activities, both in terms of continuing to support our young people and continuing to offer some kind of value for money and continue to collect subs in order to pay our overheads. Our leaders have been so proactive and adaptive in terms of running sessions online and sending out activities for our members. But- In a recent meeting we discussed the very new and different pressures faced by each family in this situation. My son, for instance, just doesn’t want to engage with online meetings following a full day of online school. We’re getting about 50% engagement in meetings, and that feels like a really healthy number in the circumstances. My advice would be to seek a friendly ear in your group - maybe your GSL, or another parent on the exec committee- and explain your perspective. It’s absolutely reasonable, and not disrespectful, but may be hard for your Beaver leader to see that right now, when they’re working hard to provide an alternative service for you.

[HeadSpin5]

We’ve been getting similar emails and I won’t deny, on top of home schooling and wfh ft, I just ignored them for a few weeks, feeling both guilty and overwhelmed. But then I did email the cub leader to apologise for ignoring, explain we didn’t have the head space right now and most importantly really, DC wasn’t keen on those type of activities at the moment. Leader couldn’t have been nicer, totally understood and I felt a lot better for having made contact. It is hard, but they are trying to do a really nice thing