Duke of Edinburgh handholding thread

[ArcheryAnnie]

....is anyone else's teenager doing this?

DS has a mound of equipment in the living room which looks ridiculously huge for one bloody night (it's a practice run) and he keeps on remembering other stuff he hasn't yet told me about that he needs. It's like getting blood out of a stone.

Also I am having visions of My Baby, Lost On The Moors, which I know is pish.

Cotswald is so expensive. Even with discount card. (For us) Sports Direct is across the road and a fraction of the price.

DD is back from practice run. Nasty blisters, fairly sunburnt, didn't touch her (bulky!) packed lunch (scoffed sweets & pastries instead).
Her meths bottle leaked & they didn't use our stove anyway, so that's fewer items to carry next time.
She had compeed & suncream, but you know, unused.
Only a few wrong turns. Muffins from a parent who just happened to live en route.
Still friends with the other 6 kids & many hugs exchanged at end.
Happy as a clam & talking about Silver next year.

DS's cadets could never organise DoE & now I see why. It's a huge commitment from the adults. Frequent interactions with the supervising adults.

Was that her qualifying hike??? Thought cooking a hot meal on a stove was a condition of passing? I know our lot would have been failed if they had been seen being given muffins en route on the qualifying, on the practice a blind eye would have been given

Loving that she has blisters and unused competed - the phrase can't lead a horse to water springs to mind with teenagers doesn't it!!!

Doh just read - it was practice- ignore me, didn't get much sleep last night!

I have lectured DD re no muffins on the real event (they were an unexpected gift, anyway). There were 2 stoves, so the kids have figured out they can manage with just the other one.

Hahaha over the muffins! To be fair my dd got brought an ice cream by his supervising person on his practice with strict instructions not to tell ma'am back at the squadron!!!!! I did hear the telling off they got from ma'am for not having matches to light the trangas though - that was really funny!!!!! No one thought of it between the 7 of them!

Our area takes the view that it would be ok to buy an ice cream or have a cake as it would make the expierence enjoyable and realistic ie if you were going out camping and passed an ice cream shop why not stop and get one.These items arent classed as a meal and a meal prep still has to be done. What wouldnt be allowed is stopping for a bag of chips and a pie for example.

It will all be fine. He will love it. You will get through it. He'll come back of the practice run with things he won't take again and things he needs.

I've just been to my son's bronze DoE presentation evening. I was so proud of him, he used to misplace lots and be a bit away with the fairies and doing DoE and just getting more grown up has made him so on-it and together.

When I watch him walk up the road to school, I do think what a great young man he's turned into, and DoE has helped along the way so much. He's halfway through silver.

Frozen bacon was the big hit, amazing bacon smell after a long walk and night in a tent, he said it was the best. Give it to him frozen the morning he leaves. Also our school provided some of the kit like rucksacks etc, also look on local FB buy and sell groups, you'll find lots of hardly used kit ther.