to be a bit grumpy with cub leaders?

[Mummyinthedark]

Well, DSs went to a cub camp this weekend. They had a lovely time despite the rain but...seemed to me to be poorly supervised on a few counts. Things that have made me grumpy are:

• neither DS cleaned teeth or washed (3 days 2 nights) the whole time and are adamant they were never asked or told to do this - or to change their clothes
• dinner finished very late each night - one night it was around 11.30 pm before they got the last cup of hot chocolate done - admittedly this is according to one of the children there, may be an exaggeration
• they got back an hour and half late. Given that they'd all had a big weekend and had to get up for school today this was not helpful.

• one boy who is a good friend of DS2 spent half a night with most of his body outside of the tent so got very wet and cold and is now unwell

Yes, I do appreciate the hard work and effort put in by the leaders and am normally quick to remind other parents how brilliant it is that they do all that they do just for fun...but, really, AIBU to think they should be a bit more organised and a bit more on top of routine and health/hygiene for the children in their care?

I didn't exactly expect them to go meekly to sleep at 8 pm but they don't seem to have been encouraged to settle down and given the sort of routine I usually associate with the scouting association.

You've forgotten to tell us how old they are

8-9 yos i think

9 and 8

oh come on.. it was an adventure, they came back safely, and a couple of days without a toothbrush is hardly going to do long lasting damage!!

And yes , I am cross with them for not just getting on with getting their teeth cleaned too and have told them they really shouldn't have needed to have a leader remind them.

Have you ever tried to get a tent full of excited kids to sleep?!

Oh I think you are being a bit UR. When my lads were well, lads, they used to go off with their Karate club and all hell would break loose. They survived, and still have most of their own teeth. I think, generally, children are enriched from these experiences and not washing and eating late isn't going to harm them too much.

Sounds kind of fun really tbh.....

YABU. Sounds like a typical cub camp to me.
They aren't going to disintegrate through not washing for 3 days. They've had fun, give them early nights for a few days and a bath, problem sorted.

Maybe they need more helpers? You could volunteer next time they go away.

Oh right

In that case I don't know really. I mean as long as they know where to wash and brush their teeth, why would anyone need to insist they did it? I can't imagine none of the children bothered to do this or change their clothes?

YANBU at the 11.30pm thing (if it turns out to be true)

Travelling...well you can't always help being back late.

What sort of child would decide sleeping half out of the tent was a good idea? Was he told not to and did it anyway?

Apart from the kid who ended up half out of the tent (at age 8 maybe he might have guessed himself that something was a bit wrong with his sleeping arrangements?) it sounds about right.

You might be being just a wee bit overprotective.

yabvu

it is camping, it is fun and different, and an experience to remember there whole lives.

hoy chocolate round the camp fire at 11? so what.

The bit about the kid sticking out the tent isn't on. The rest sounds like usual cub stuff.

ok, I'll loosen my corsets a bit.

Times have obviously changed since I went away with the Guides. (actually, that was quite a long time ago....)

YABU. What did you think they were going to do? Have a long soak in the bath and be tucked up asleep by 7.30? And being cold doesn't give you a cold...

The only point I agree with you on is having them back late, it would have been better if they were on time to recover before school.

This boy needed a leader to tell him not to sleep with half of himself out in the rain? Really?

Oh, and you don't get I'll from getting wet and cold.

Your boys are old enough to be responsible for their own tooth-brushing and changing of clothes if they are over eight, they chose not to obey your usual rules because you weren't breathing down their necks. Being grubby for a few days will not do any long lasting harm.
Late evenings doing exciting things in tents are par for the course, it's one of the interesting bits they remember. Why did the child spend half the night partly outside the tent? They usually sort out number of bodies to tents so there's enough room.
Presumably they got back Monday evening? How late?

'but they don't seem to have been encouraged to settle down and given the sort of routine I usually associate with the scouting association.'
Really? Mine has gone from Beaver to Explorer, almost 12 years of scouting and I've never known them be good at playing mummy at a sleepover and checking individuals for teeth and fresh underwear. General reminder for all is about as far as they've gone.
OTOH they have given my DS some of the most amazing and inclusive experiences of his life and have adapted him and accommodated his needs. he has come back smelly, grubby and on occasion singed around the edges, and he's loved it.
Perhaps you ought to work on your sons' independent living skills.

'Maybe they need more helpers? You could volunteer next time they go away.'

Oh God no, please don't. Help the Brownies instead.

Well I'm just back from a Beaver, Cub and Scout camp (ds1 is a Beaver and parents accompany). I'm sure that most of the cubs arrived home in a similar state to your dcs but I can assure you they were told to wash/clean teeth and to settle down at night.

Why was the child half out of a tent all night? It was -7 oC were we where, so that would have been very serious but I assume it was not part of the plan but some sort of dare? Leaders/helpers are available through the night in case of probs but they are not allowed to sleep in the same tents as the kids so there isn't 24 hour constant supervision (that being part of the point/fun).

As for the being late well FGS, I'm sure they weren't late because they were dying to spend just one more hour with your dc. An undertaking of this sort is extremely difficult to plan to the minute. Try it some time

'Times have obviously changed since I went away with the Guides.'

The Boy Scout movement and the Guides often have very different attitudes and agendas. Which is why the scout troop my DS was in had a number of Brownies who jumped ship to scouts for a more exciting and less ladylike time.

I think a lot of parents (and I'm not necessarily talking about the OP) expect less in the way of their kids taking responsibility for themselves than perhaps in the past.

My DS went on a residential trip in Yr7 (ages 11/12) and the teacher said that hardly any of them knew how to put the clean duvet cover and sheets on their beds when they arrived.

So really if your DSs decided not to wash, brush their teeth or change their clothes...that really was their own decision.

Well at brownie camp my DD didn't go to sleep until about 2am! I don't care, just glad these people volunteer to take the kids away.

With modern technology though surely it is easy to text one parent to warn of a delay so people don't have to stand around. Schools manage this.

"Being cold doesn't give you a cold." Cold germs give you a cold. But lowering your body temperature can make you less able to fight off infection, hence why people get more colds in winter.