Most people come to Scouting thinking they're signing their kid up for something. And they are. But somewhere between the first campout and the second year, something else happens. The parent who drove the carpool becomes the one who knows how to read a trail map. The dad who showed up to help with Pinewood Derby ends up running the den. The mom who came along for one overnight finds herself planning the next three.

Scouting doesn't ask you to hand your child to a Scoutmaster and come back in a few years. It asks you to show up. And most parents who do don't expect what happens next — they get formed right alongside their kids. That's not a side effect. That's the point.

There's a good chance you'll become a Scoutmaster. Or an assistant. Or the person everyone counts on to know where the first aid kit is. The parents who walked that road didn't plan it. They just said yes to one more campout.