I've been facing an issue just this past week concerning my son, the Boy Scout. In the normal world you'd think Boy Scouts are just that Boys, but it seems his troop is different. When I say different, I mean the troop has one of "those" parents.
This particular parent, let's say it's a father for the sake of the story and for the sake of the truth. I receive a call from the father telling me my son, the Patrol Leader, is being too "heavy handed" on the patrol. A patrol is a smaller group of Scouts within the troop and my son was graciously voted their leader for a period of six months. So, my son is being too hard on his son and the Patrol in general. The father then asks me to speak to my son about his "behavior" and perhaps he should be more "nice".
I immediately put my work hat on, instead of the Mommy hat. The Mommy hat would have allowed me to tell this father to stop babying his child; to tell his child to grow a nut and talk to my son, the Patrol Leader if he had a problem with his leadership and being too harsh; the Mom in me really wanted to come through the phone line and smack this father for being a whiny parent...but luckily I put on my business hat, my business acumen.
I rationally (and calmly) told him I'd ask my son about his leadership skills and that perhaps he (my son) should speak with his Patrol about said skills. I also added that I felt my son was a fine leader and yes, sometimes he was a bit harsh, but he was leading a patrol of very young boys that were similar to herding cats in a rain storm!
I was hopeful that a call to our Scoutmaster, the adult leader, would put this whole thing behind us. I talked to my son, he agreed to talk to his patrol and to talk with a few of the adult leaders...DONE! Lesson learned, move on; he needs to be taught additional leadership skills, let's get him signed up for Scout Leadership Training Course (big duh, he's only 12 1/2 and this is his first leadership position).
Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I have not been reprised of the entire weekend's events and I'm not sure that I really want to know all the details; but I've been told that the father attended the camp out this weekend and asked the Scoutmaster for my son's resignation. I am also told the Scoutmaster courteously told him to "pound sand"!
That may be all I need to hear, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be holding a grudge for this father as I move forward in life. I can't guarantee I'll be wearing my business hat next time I see him either; I kinda hope not. I'm a pretty fierce defender of my family, especially the one that herds cats!
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