Scout's honor

This weekend was a hub of activity, and I'm sad to say, not much of it centered around me. Instead, it was focused on Mark, and his journey to manhood.

Or rather, to Scouthood. On Sunday, he spent his last weekend in front of a table hawking mistletoe (the pack's big fundraiser for the year). As always, it proved highly entertaining.

Mark was joined by four other Scouts from his den. Although the table was on a low-traffic part of the street, they still managed to reel in every person walking by.

"Mistletoe!" they shouted to the potential customers standing one foot away from them. "Get your mistletoe for only one dollar!"




As proof that people really are good and just, almost everyone stopped. They looked into the earnest eyes of those young scouts and purchased a bag of mistletoe.

The boys worked as a team to draw people in.

Jonah yelled, "Buy 200 bags, get 1 free!" Surprisingly, there were no takers.

Daniel expertly called out to passersby, and drew in quite a few. After one laughing couple left, he came over to ask if the boys were allowed to joke with customers, and his mom assured him they were.

Sebastian kept the table well-stocked with merchandise. And Mark did his part as well, giving customers the sad little puppy dog eyes we'd practiced in the car on the way over.

"Would you like to buy some mistletoe?" he asked one man passing by. The man kind of shook his head, but before he could take another step, Mark said in his saddest, most-innocent voice, "Please?" Sold!

There were moments of squirelly-ness, since our salesmen were only ten years old. A bout of the ninja game erupted, and the salesmen were instructed to stop karate-chopping each other, which almost never happens at other sales venues. They also tried stomping on each other's toes quite a bit.

One person bought multiple bags, which pleased the boys immensely. "That was our most profitable sale yet!" they told the lady.

Another lady bought a bag and held it above her head. "Does it work?" she asked, and five boys immediately scooted back, horrified that she might actually try it on them. Her boyfriend loved that, and asked them very seriously, "What do you do with this?"

The boys stammered and giggled nervously, shoving each other to the forefront to explain. They hemmed and hawed, refusing to answer or say the word "kiss." The man pressed on, until finally one boy said, "That's all I'm gonna say about that!" and the other boys nodded silently in agreement. It was hilarious!

But that wasn't all the fun for the day. Mark will move up to Boy Scouts soon, so he attended his first Boy Scout meeting as well. I learned that the troop is very active, and will, quite possibly, give me a heart attack. The boys will go camping, hiking, rock-climbing and even white-water rafting.

Our little boys practiced by rappelling down from the gym ceiling. They were harnessed in tightly, which they quickly realized limited their mobility. Watching them try (and fail) to run while hobbled was priceless, and my friend Liz immediately said she was going to buy some harnesses for our boys.

There were two Boy Scouts helping strap them in, and the first asked how tightly they were supposed to cinch the harnesses.

"Until it hurts," said the second Scout, and I realized that being in the Boy Scouts for Mark will be like having 70 big brothers. I fell in love with the troop right then.




So stay tuned...Mark may be aging out of the Cub Scouts and all the fun stories that go with it, but never fear, here come the Boy Scouts. And after watching last night's activities, I know the funny stories will continue...