Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Why is beavers so late?

121 replies

TwentyTwenty20 · 25/09/2023 15:39

I'd love to put my son in beavers but it's from 6:00 until 7:15. By the times he's got home, had a bath, had a bedtime story and wound down and actually fallen asleep it'd be 8:15/8:30. Feels quite late for a 5 year old who is usually in bed by 7. Does this feel a bit late or is this the norm for beavers? Anyone else's kids cope OK? He has to be up for 6 so would only get around 9.5 hours sleep. He usually gets 11+

OP posts:
PinkandSilverCandleHolder · 25/09/2023 17:04

Totally normal here.

My DDs a Girlguide and we have

Rainbows (4-7yos) 6-7pm
Brownies (7-10yos) 7.15-8.45pm

On the same night.

Then nearby scout group has Beavers, Cubs and Scouts consecutively on the same night.

bubblegumpeach · 25/09/2023 17:12

My dd is nearly 8 and is up at 6/7 everyday!! No matter her bedtime.... she went to bed at 10pm Saturday and was still up before 7.....

I agree with the others no bath is needed, can always have a wash/shower in the morning. Can you do reading before you go out?

Ansjovis · 25/09/2023 17:13

TwentyTwenty20 · 25/09/2023 17:01

Thanks everyone. I'll probably give it a go! He's absolutely fine getting up at 6 and 7 doesn't feel that restrictive. We're only 10 mins from the school so he gets nearly 4 hours of chill time at home!

I do feel some people have been a tad aggy here. I wasn't criticising at all. I was just asking if it was the norm and how other people's kids coped.

I agree, some people have been harsh. I was a rainbow leader meeting 6-7 and I got a few openly hostile messages asking why we met so late, it's possible people are reading the same sort of intent into your messages when it's clearly not there.

Foe what it's worth, the vast majority of my rainbows were absolutely fine with 6-7pm. I only had one parent in 5 years of running the group who decided it was too late, the others gave it a go once I explained there were no alternatives and found their daughters did adjust.

CurlewKate · 25/09/2023 17:13

Because it's run by volunteers and they have to get home from work.

HauntedPencil · 25/09/2023 17:14

At that age, does he really need a bath and bedtime routine? Mine would come home abs go straight to bed.

HauntedPencil · 25/09/2023 17:15

They managed fine - actually went straight from childcare as it was a working day, home teeth bed.

Hufflepods · 25/09/2023 17:17

6pm sounds completely achievable for most families, they will just be suiting the majority. Many parents will be working and not able to get to a club for 5 and 7pm is an early bedtime for most 5 year olds.

HairHeGoesHairHeGoesAgain · 25/09/2023 17:19

I'm a volunteer, I work full time and have my own child to see to and sort.

Plus it's the earliest we can access the space we rent.

See how he goes. Most colonies will give you a few weeks grace period to see if it's for them or not before you commit and have his investiture. Ours has a waiting list as long as your arm so if you've been offered a place and you'd like him in scouting then take it. We give 7 days to accept the offer or we move on to the next person on the list.

Phos · 25/09/2023 17:19

Doesn’t seem overly late to me. My daughter is at rainbows which starts at 5 and that’s a complete pain. A lot of kids can’t go if they have parents who have to work office hours without options to flex.

UsingChangeofName · 25/09/2023 17:23

Well no - its not been thatlong since there were more non working mothers of children that age so it would have been less affected by the needs of working parents. It was definitely on earlier than 6pm when i was a child.

Your colony might have met earlier, but the colony I started in 1984 started at 6pm and finished at 7.15. Just the same as now - it would depend on when the Leaders were able to get there. It isn't a "When I was a child" thing.

CurlewKate · 25/09/2023 17:24

One of the many unspoken social changes since I was young is the way changing work patterns have affected things like Scouts. When I was a child many parents could leave work at 5, get home, change, have dinner and be out again running sports clubs, scouts and so on by 6.30. Longer working hours, longer commutes and the need for 2 full time wages have made that impossible in many cases.

newhere24 · 25/09/2023 17:29

It was the same for ys, 6-7 pm and the kids were absolutely wired afterwards. no chance of sleep until gone 9 (similar for all of them from what I heard) . On a Monday as well.
Cubs from 7 to 8:30, monday as well. impossible for working parents (as kids need to go to breakfast club), but maybe that’s intended? working parents don’t make good volunteers so doing clubs late is a good way to ensure you only get parents who work parttime at most.
We gad to stop beavers after 2 terms as my child couldn’t deal with the late nights, tantrums in school and no concentration Tuesday/Wednesday.

Hufflepods · 25/09/2023 17:30

@CurlewKate When I was a child many parents could leave work at 5, get home, change, have dinner and be out again running sports clubs, scouts and so on by 6.30. Longer working hours, longer commutes and the need for 2 full time wages have made that impossible in many cases.

In this case the club starts at 6pm so doesn’t really seem to have changed that much.

CasperGutman · 25/09/2023 17:39

It's a bit late IMO, and would put me off signing my child up. If you're keen though, one night a week probably won't hurt in the long run (though it might lead to some difficult parenting with a grumpy tired child in the short term).

One thing that would help is to get out of the habit of a bath every night. Nobody, not least a child of five, needs a bath every night. Bathing and showering less frequently, e.g., taking a shower every other day, is better for the environment, for your bank balance and crucially is also better for the skin.

JohnNolan · 25/09/2023 17:39

My 5 year olds normal bedtime is about 8.30 on a school night so it wouldnt be a problem for us.

BorisIsACuntWaffle · 25/09/2023 17:41

Because the volunteers that run these groups will probably work and have families of their own.

Mynewnameis · 25/09/2023 17:43

We found it quite late age 5. Skipped bath, short story or none if I could get away with it.

HairHeGoesHairHeGoesAgain · 25/09/2023 17:45

newhere24 · 25/09/2023 17:29

It was the same for ys, 6-7 pm and the kids were absolutely wired afterwards. no chance of sleep until gone 9 (similar for all of them from what I heard) . On a Monday as well.
Cubs from 7 to 8:30, monday as well. impossible for working parents (as kids need to go to breakfast club), but maybe that’s intended? working parents don’t make good volunteers so doing clubs late is a good way to ensure you only get parents who work parttime at most.
We gad to stop beavers after 2 terms as my child couldn’t deal with the late nights, tantrums in school and no concentration Tuesday/Wednesday.

Edited

All of the leaders are working parents.

Plus we can only have a parent in as a helper (regardless of how many or few hours they work) once every five weeks so I think your theory might be a bit flawed.

DinnaeFashYersel · 25/09/2023 17:51

I am a Beaver Leader: Our Beavers are 615 till 715 and our times are based on two factors

  1. for the leaders to have time to get there after work (hopefully being able to get a bite of dinner in too)

  2. to enable working parents to be able to collect their children, feed them and get them to Beavers in time.

715pm does feel a bit late for the youngest 6 year olds but they manage fine and before you know they are 8 years old and moving to Cubs and you are worrying about the 830pm finish time there.

Your child will have an amazing time in Beavers. But if he is 5 already don't delay getting on the waiting list otherwise you might not get a place. Waiting lists are huge in many places.

Grumpyold · 25/09/2023 17:55

Because it's run by volunteers who have jobs

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 25/09/2023 17:59

Because the(voluntary) leaders have jobs and families if their own.

Cavy he just go straight to bed when he gets jn? Lone has been through Beavers all the way to Explorers...

UsingChangeofName · 25/09/2023 17:59

impossible for working parents (as kids need to go to breakfast club), but maybe that’s intended? working parents don’t make good volunteers so doing clubs late is a good way to ensure you only get parents who work parttime at most.

eh ?
That makes no sense at all.

How does "kids needing to go to breakfast club" make it impossible for working parents ? Confused
How have you concluded that 'working parents don't make good volunteers' ? Confused
Why do you think that only parents that work part time at most volunteer ? Confused

That's not the case at all. None of those statements are true.

SisterAgatha · 25/09/2023 18:02

Agreed it’s late but it’s still worth it for the activities. My boy is the same, he would be up at 6am no matter what time he went to bed.

We just make an effort to feed him dinner before he goes. It ends at 7.15, we are home by 7.18 and he’s in bed maybe 7.30 which is only half-ish hour later than usual. He usually falls straight asleep on beavers nights.

wonkylegs · 25/09/2023 18:05

newhere24 · 25/09/2023 17:29

It was the same for ys, 6-7 pm and the kids were absolutely wired afterwards. no chance of sleep until gone 9 (similar for all of them from what I heard) . On a Monday as well.
Cubs from 7 to 8:30, monday as well. impossible for working parents (as kids need to go to breakfast club), but maybe that’s intended? working parents don’t make good volunteers so doing clubs late is a good way to ensure you only get parents who work parttime at most.
We gad to stop beavers after 2 terms as my child couldn’t deal with the late nights, tantrums in school and no concentration Tuesday/Wednesday.

Edited

Both DH & I work full time and we manage to make it work (Monday night at 6-7 for us) Just! It's hard and we spend a lot of time getting the logistics right (we have a 15yo who needs to be at his activity 25mins drive from beavers at 6.30 so I just feel like I'm going round in circles on a Monday)
Thankfully I don't have a big commute and can pick up from after school club, throw a very quick dinner down them and get them out the door
Our section only uses parent volunteers for trips and special activities so we concentrate on helping with those, which is just about doable. The leaders are fantastic and I've no qualms about helping them when necessary.
However the 15yo went through from Beavers to Explorers & young leaders and we felt it was worth the effort as he got s much from it so we are doing it all again with our youngest. It's easier as they get older but the timings get later so not for every child.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 25/09/2023 18:18

Cubs from 7 to 8:30, monday as well. impossible for working parents (as kids need to go to breakfast club)

Why would that be impossible?

Children don't go to cubs until they are 8, at which point they are perfectly capable of staying up until 9pm and then getting up for breakfast club. It's actually better for working parents because picking up, getting them into uniform and getting to Beavers by 6pm is tight after work.