My Scout moves up, again

Was it about a year ago that my Boy Scout was promoted to Assistant Patrol Leader? I thought I blogged about it but I can't find it. I hate to admit I was amazed at that promotion. The boy who lives here does not fit the profile of a leader. Sorry, but it's true. We knew he did better at Scouts than at home, but didn't think it was that much better. After talking to the Scoutmaster my husband and I walked around for a couple of hours saying "What? Did that really happen? How did that happen?"

We had a similar experience when he joined his robotics club. One of my favorite mom moments came shortly after my husband had a conversation with the dad of the robotics club president. This guy talked about how competent our boy is; how quickly he picks up information; how many great ideas he had going into a competition. At the moment he was telling me this, the boy came into the room to say goodnight. He had just taken a shower. And yet as I went to hug him, I backed off: he stunk! Badly! Very unlike a guy just out of the shower! So I had to ask: "did you even wash your armpits?" "Uh, wow, I guess I forgot."

Talk about your cognitive dissonance.

So today we were stunned once again when the Scoutmaster asked our boy to take a promotion to Patrol Leader. He will be taking over an existing patrol, the current leader of which is stepping down, out of leadership. It's a patrol full of difficult boys.

The Scoutmaster called and talked to my husband first. Then he talked to the boy. I just about started crying when my husband whispered what the call was about. I whispered back "he's not ready" just as I heard the boy say "I don't think I'm ready." But then he went quiet for a few minutes and the next thing I heard was "Yes, yes, I will do it." And then "I will do my best, but I don't know if I can be as good as the leaders who've been there a while."

He got off the phone and I knew, I just could see by his face that he felt a little sick. He's nervous. Maybe downright scared. But happy too.

He's got a lot of hard work ahead. But some good fun too.