Today I am grateful for the Cub Scouts. I was never pictured myself as an All American type of mom. I was never a Girlscout and Kipp never a Boyscout. Just didn't think it fit into my "left winged" life. Always the liberal, thought those associations were too conservative. I started to realize I was wrong when Shelby became a Brownie in elementary school. Now I know I'm wrong.
I watched my son have a blast tonight at Pack 53's annual Pinewood Derby. We spent all week working on a little piece of pine that we made into a car. It was supposed to be Jake's thing, but since we have so much extra time on our hands we got into it, making sure it met all the specifications. Jake brought his car to the church where the Pack meets, and I found that I was not the only parent that got into it. It was rather obvious to me that most of those parents made the entire car from start to finish, so I'm glad that Jake could say that he had a large part in the making of his own racer.
Jake joined Cub Scouts when Kipp was in the hospital and some friends of ours asked us if Jake would like to go along. He loved it. And why wouldn't he... a group of 8 boys all his age and grade that just love to have fun. He gets to play and do activities, earning badges, and just be a kid.
K told me yesterday that while I was gone, the new neighbor came over to introduce himself while he and Jake were playing out front. As soon as the guy came over and shook K's hand, Jake was right at his side explaining to the neighbor that his dad couldn't talk too well since he had a stroke. I'm so proud of Jake for speaking up for his father, and taking on that role of the mini-caregiver while I was away. It also made me a little sad that he has to take on that role at such a young age. You never expect your children to have that type of responsibility and deal with all those feeling involved with a sick parent.
So tonight I am grateful for Cub Scouts for letting my son be just a kid with a group of friends having fun.
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