scouts sunday | make a personal first aid kit

Scouting sections are called slightly different things in different countries, and badge requirements are slightly different. I will share my experience with cubs and joeys in Australia, and hope that you can adapt them to your requirements.

please note - the Australian standard for first aid is a GREEN cross

The actual badge requirement is put together a simple first aid kit and take it on outings with you (bronze boomerang, section 1 health and first aid, part 2 basic first aid, yellow book) Silver and gold badges also have the same requirement (or check and replenish a first aid kit.)

I had seen lots of altoid tins floating around pinterest, and knew that I wanted to try turning one into a first aid kit. Altoid tins are almost impossible to find in Australia, so I turned to eBay, and found a supplier of empty-altoid-tin-style tins, and purchased a large bundle. They ship from the US, very quickly, and the rates are good with such a strong Australian dollar.

bandaids in varying sizes

In consultation with someone from my local chemist, and checking lists on personal first aid kits available from sale at the chemist, we came up with this list of items. I carry this kit with me in my handbag, and having bandaids has come in very handy with the kids, and me!

gauze swabs, saline, medical swap

Thinking about all eventualities, including hikes, we decided to add a tube of saline solution. As I will always have a big first aid kit with me on any activities it probably isn't necessary, but it will let the kids feel as if they are doing something helpful.

mersyndol, polaramine, splinter picker

We also talked about each child packing any medication they require into their kits, if they're allowed to. Unless we're on camp, there will probably be no need for medication, but I have mersyndol to stop migraines dead in their tracks and polaramine in the event of an allergy attack (and I also carry an epi-pen, as I'm allergic to wasps.)

It all packs in to the tin easily (the photo at the top is of the tin, full), and the kids have it with them at all times (they all have yellow calico bags that they keep all their scout things in after each meeting. Parents love the idea, because there's no more scrambling for scarves as they walk out the door!)

Do you carry a first aid kit with you?

the ode

Today is ANZAC Day. I'm marching with my joey scouts and cub scouts in my first ever ANZAC parade. I'm pretty lucky, none of my family has fought in a war, but one of my cousins is currently serving in Timor. So I'm marching to honour him today.

scouts | how did I get here?

I wrote this post last November, but never published it. Here's the story of my parent-to-leader scouts journey.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I promised a story, so here it is.

I called my mum this morning and asked "why didn't we do extra-curricular activities when we were kids?" Once we got past the "your school was too far from home" response to our high school years, we established that I was really asking "why didn't we do stuff like scouts or girl guides?" Her response? "You never asked, so we never offered, and we were too busy building our business up."

So, how did I go from no background in scouting to being a leader? In one sentence, there was no one else. The long story is that Douglas has been going to scouts for the last three years. Earlier this year the Joey scouts leader moved away with her family, so the Cubs leader has been working on her own. (our pack and mob have been grouped together for the last five years, so the leaders had been leading together anyway).

At the start of the year, the Cubs leader went to visit her partner in Holland (they've maintained a long-distance relationship for seven years!) and came home with a ring! And that was when she decided to resign from scouts and focus on her new family. That's where I come in. I'd sort-of been hanging around, sharing the occassional craft with the kids, having a voice on the parent committee, selling chocolates for fundraising, and starting to get involved in life again (having babies keeps you busy with other stuff!) I put my hand up and said "hey, I don't have anything else to do with my life {ha ha}, I'll become a Joey scout and Cub scout leader"

Then the long process of paperwork starts - there's a system in Queensland called a "blue card" that every person who works with children must go through. Basically, it's a police check to see if you've ever done one of a number of nasty things to children. Because I'd had a blue card before, the paperwork only took three months to go through!

I was invested as a leader in September. I've been leading the kids by myself for the last couple of months. I've still got lots of training to do, and I'm making lots of changes to how our group runs, so it works better for the kids and for me. Those map-reading and compass-reading sessions in primary school have come in handy for my training, and I'm flexing muscles that haven't been used much in the last few years. And I'm having fun.

meanwhile, in other news

I was invested as a Joey Scout Leader at the start of September.

I've set up a facebook page for my blog.
Now if you want to keep your profile personal, you can still see my blog.
{but I'd still love you to be friends with me!}
Click the picture above, or on the right hand side to be taken there.

The postman finally brought this book to me

I tried to make a padded bag for my instax.
I forgot to allow for seams (and all the padding)
back to the drawing board.

Riley has learnt how to work the "mamra" on our iGadets.
There are lots of photos like this on each of them.

Ignore the super-unflattering photo, and check out the funky bike.
Notice the trailer on the back - all the elements for mum-bike-rides-with-small-children
{I had forgotten how much fun it is to ride a bike, and how many muscles you use!}

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