Last night was an important night for Nigel! After being involved in his Boy Scout troop for two years, he has advanced to First Class rank, the mid-point on the way to Eagle.

As I have written before, our family has been involved with Boy Scouts for almost four years, and we’ve been fortunate to have gotten to know some really great Scout families during that time. All the kids just let Nigel be Nigel; they tolerate his “fake laugh” (sort of an exaggerated, cackly rendition of the laugh track on old sit-coms), they hold up his end of the flag when he can’t figure out how to hold it during the Court of Honor, and they don’t pick him to recite the Scout Law because he’s uncomfortable getting up in front of everyone. They accept him and for that I am so appreciative. (I guess they wouldn’t be very good Boy Scouts if they didn’t!)

So, he feels like he belongs, and he is slowly but surely working his way towards Eagle Scout. I don’t know if he’ll get all the way there, but he’s definitely learning and enjoying himself. And that’s the whole point.