Tuesday Talkback: Balancing family life with commitment to your Scouting family

Tuesday-TalkbackFor a few lucky Scouters out there, “Scouting family” and “actual family” are synonymous. Their spouse and all their children are actively involved in the program, meaning family time is pretty much all the time.

The rest of us, however, must find a happy balance between those two important commitments.

Pop quiz: Have you ever found yourself shortchanging your family to fulfill a commitment to your pack, troop, team, post, ship or crew? Or maybe you’ve shirked something you agreed to do for your Scouting unit because family responsibilities took over?

The goal here isn’t to criticize your life priorities but to share ways you’ve successfully satisfied both commitments.

For today’s Tuesday Talkback, tell me this: How do you balance your real family with your Scouting family? Leave a comment below.

Here are some more questions to consider: 

  • Do you spend more hours each month encouraging other Scouts and leaders than you do encouraging your own son or daughter?
  • Do you miss more than one school concert, soccer game or family event a year because you have a Scouting obligation?
  • Do you ever volunteer for a task without first discussing it with your spouse?
  • Do your Scouters’ events take precedence over your son’s/daughter’s Scouting events?
  • When was the last time you took a family vacation that didn’t involve Scouting?

Responses from Scouting magazine readers

Consider these responses from 2004.

Other Tuesday Talkbacks

Find them here.


Photo from Flickr: Some rights reserved by Weibel Kids


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.