Winter Earns His First Badge and Beads as a Tiger Scout

I've been trying to stress to my eldest son the importance of work in our lives.  Trying to make him understand that we all have to work in order to receive those priviledges we hold so dear (ie-new things, playing on the computer, video games, a new car...etc.).  Last night I think the message might have hit home when he received his first badge and beads from the Scouts (unfortunately I forgot to take the camera with me to the meeting, so this picture is pre-badge).

Winter struggles socially sometimes and has been diagnosed with both Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD--sometimes called Sensory Integration Disorder) and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).  Not that I put too much stock in those labels, to me they are a tool only to assist me, and others, better understand how my son's little mind works.

I was really nervous about the Pack Meeting (for anyone not involved with scouting, that's when all of the various groups: Tiger-Scouts, Wolf-Scouts, Webelos, and Boy Scouts, etc. in your area, come together for an event or meeting), since Winter suffers from hyperaucusis (he has super-good hearing!) being in large groups can sometimes be a challenge, especially if there's singing, or a lot of loud clapping, confusing laughter, etc.  But I needn't have worried, Winter did excellent.  He sat right next to our Den-leader, and I sat "far-away" on the bleachers, to watch the Pack and Den-leaders' demonstrations, and the boys receive their awards, badges, pins, beads, etc.  Winter was so small when he went up to receive his, but so proud when he came running to show me what he'd earned.

Getting ready for this meeting was the first time he'd shown so much excitement about the Scouts.  When we first began he was disappointed to find out that he would have to work at the meetings, he began to resist going, but we persevered and last night I think he realized the pay-off for all his hard work.  Hopefully this lesson will stick with him into other areas of his life (say--school-work??).