"You Called the Wolf?"

Surprisingly, scouting has taken a big role in our family's lives. I know----what??? Let me elaborate....

Jared is currently the 11 year old scout leader for our ward. Now all of you that know Jared understand that scouting is not exactly his thing {and that is putting it very, very mildly}. Sure, the guy has many good qualities, but being a super scouter is not one of them. Remember that 80's Movie, Troop Beverly Hills? Yes, Jared is Shelly Long in this scenario. His idea of "roughing it" is going without high speed internet or if the DVR erases one of his shows.

Carson started cub scouts this year {remember the pine wood derby post?} and unlike Jared, thinks it is THE BEST THING EVER. But really, it's hardly surprising. I mean, c'mon....things that you have to do and check off and awards/badges to earn....the kid lives for this type of thing.

So every night he is begging to pass off new things in his scout book---front roll, back roll, a game of marbles, starting a collection, and etc. These are some of the more "normal" requests.

Sometimes we've had to "reign" him in, because in true Carson-like fashion, it can sometimes get out of control. For instance, he really wanted to pass off the first aid stuff, so the kid ripped off a scab which made his skin bleed, and "Oh, wow, Mom...now I can do first aid, clean my wound properly and dress it with a band aid!!!" Ummm.....yeah....completely crazy, I know. After getting the proper mom lecture about how we shouldn't hurt ourselves to pass off requirements {I'm thinking I may be the only mom who has had to talk to her kid about this. Anyhoo...}, he then replied, "That's fine. I won't do it again because now I passed that requirement off."

This has been my life for the past few months people!

The other night was no different. One of the requirements was learning proper phone etiquette. Now if you all know Carson, there are some things that come quite easy for him, but being super friendly and sociable ain't one of them. After telling him exactly what to do when answering the phone, he seemed to really get it, so we decided to have a few practice rounds.

Practice Phone Call #1:
Mom: "Ring Ring"
Carson: {Making heavy breathing sounds and nothing else.....}
Mom: "Carson!!!! Say hello!! Oh, let's try this again!"

Practice Phone Call #2:
Mom: "Ring Ring"
Carson: "What?"
Mom: "Carson, you are supposed to say Hello! Let's try again!"

Practice Phone Call #3:
Mom: "Ring Ring"
Carson: "Hello."
Mom: "Hi, is your Dad there?"
Carson: "No."
Mom: "Ugh, remember you aren't supposed to tell people that we aren't there. You are just supposed to say we can't come to the phone and to leave a message. Let's do it again."

Practice Phone Call #4:
Mom: "Ring Ring"
Carson: "Hello."
Mom: "Is your Dad there?"
Carson: "He can't come to the phone right now. Leave a message. Bye." {He then proceeds to hang up the phone.}
Mom: {In a completely exasperated voice, by the way} "Carson! When you tell someone to leave a message, you are supposed to actually listen to the message and write it down before you hang up!"

Can you believe we worked on that for half an hour? We ended up passing it off, but the sad part is, I have a sneaking suspicion that if someone were to call the house and he answered, they would be greeted with Phone Call Scenarios #1-4.

On tap very soon is making a wood project. You all know how well the derby car went, so wish us luck. It may be a very Rocky Road to making Wolf indeed.