Here's my Cub Scout story:

I was the den leader from day one. In the first year each of the parents take turns running "the show", which is good because it spreads out the work and each of them can pick a topic that they like - which makes things better and more fun.

The second year (Wolf) I - the den leader - tried per the BSA plan to do most of it by myself with some help from the assistant den leader. Since both my wife & I work fulltime, it was a nightmare. I struggled to get things ready in time and to keep the quality up. I think I did good, but at the end of the year I knew something had to change.

The third year (Bear) I - the den leader - told the parents that we either needed to go back to something more like the first year's model (each person takes turns each month) or else I needed to step down to let someone else take the lead. They all quickly stepped up to the plate, did great jobs leading month-long programs (I organized them month-to-month and made sure we were getting things done).

This continued through the 4th & 5th years (Webelos) too. The parents were VERY active - each in turn. The boys got very high quality meetings and activities, and my life wasn't ruined by Scouting.

Today I'm entering my 3rd year as an assistant Scoutmaster with my son's Boy Scout troop. My son has some special 'issues', so he'll never be a big time leader, though he's having fun and learning a lot.

I'm pushing as hard as I dare to enforce the boy-lead nature of the troop, to 'try' to get other leaders and parents to help plan for the future, to ask for youth and adult leader training, and to let the boys plan their year's program. Our Scoutmaster just stepped down and now a new dad (his son is in his first year) has been selected as Scoutmaster. I'm already on his back to ensure that things are boy-run and patrol-based. So far so good.

This weekend is the troop's first campout with real patrol boxes and real patrol-owned gear. Too bad the patrol boxes each weigh a ton. We'll all figure things out as we go along.