First Cadette Meeting

My goddaughter wants to be part of a really active Girl Scout troop, and get a chance to earn her Silver Award. The troop she was part of last year moved on to Seniors this year, so she needed a new troop. Kristina was the first baby in my life, and has been a big part of my life since the day she was born. Even though she lives about 75 miles from me, I really want to help her reach her goals.



We had our first Cadette meeting this week. Other leaders have told us we might have trouble recruiting middleschoolers and I'm disappointed to say they were right. So far we only have two girls, but we still had a super fun meeting last night! We played games, talked about what it means to be a Girl Scout, etc. I left feeling very uplifted about Cadettes, even though we need at least one more member to have a troop.

Mail Call - Caring & Sharing

Last week I handed out envelopes with blank cards inside, each one addressed to a girl in the troop, with a stamp already on it. The girls' task was to decorate the card and include a message of card to one of their friends. Everyone loves to get mail - I thought this would be a good way to work toward the Caring & Sharing Try-It. My daughter got the newest girl in our troop, and mailed her card yesterday. I'm hoping we get full participation so that everyone who mails a card receives one as well.

Archery!

I feel really, really lucky that our council is willing to start girls with Archery at a young age! Several of the girls in our troop tried it for the first time when they were only five years old. The first time my daughter shot was a great experience. She is sensitive to certain sounds and was very scared by the whooshing the arrows made. Even though she'd been very excited about trying it, she panicked and cried and didn't want to do it. The other girls in our troop all rallied around her and told her stories of time when they were scared to do things, but then tried it and liked it. The cheered for her when she went up and gave it a try. I was so proud of all of them! Because of their support and her willingness to give it a try, they earned the Sister to Every Girl Scout petal, and she earned Courageous and Strong.



A couple years later, they are still extremely interested in Archery and all want to take part in it whenever they can. Since they all feel so strongly, we got the archery instructor from our council to come out and do a day just for us. The girls went over the safety rules and commands, got to shoot, got practice strings, made their own arm guards, and got to shoot again during the four hours we were there. The Brownies also got to earn the Council's Own Archery Try-It. They've definitely improved as time goes on - my daughter hit the target several times and was very proud of herself!

Two frustrations and then some good stuff

1. RSVPs. Specifically, I am frustrated by parents who do not RSVP and/or pay a fee if there is one, and then still expect their children can show up to an event. This summer I made a new rule for myself, that I am not going to chase parents down to find out who is going to what event. I do not have time. The flip side is when parents do RSVP, but then they don't show. I already know that two of the girls who RSVPed yes to an upcoming event are not really coming.

2. Time. When I handed a parent a newsletter yesterday he said something like, "I really wouldn't have time to do this.," and he said it in a condescending way. I give an enormous amount of my time to Girl Scouting. It is my choice and my pleasure to do it. That doesn't mean I don't have other things I could be doing. If someone feels they couldn't make the time to run a troop, instead of demeaning the person who does, they should say THANK YOU.

We had a meeting this week and it was great! I was so happy one of my most active little girls said, "Jenny, Jenny, can we do skits?," and I was able to say YES. We started working on the Caring and Sharing Try-It, because I thought this would be a good way to start the year and have everyone get to know each other a little better. We did skits on different ways to show you care, showed how the girls in our troop are alike and different, and I gave them each a card, already addressed and stamped, to decorate and mail to a troop member this week.

The best part of the meeting for me was when I said, "We have to do this quickly, it's almost time to go.," and they all seemed shocked and said, "What? It's been an hour? I don't want it to be over!"

Overwhelmed by opportunities......

I don't know if it is because we came up from Daisies and there is more available for Brownies, or if it is because our council stepped up and put out awesome programs this year, but I am overwhelmed by the number of great activities available to my troop this year. They can do everything from Try-It programs at local children's museums, to overnights run by the local Audubon Society, from Journeys in a day at camp, and to learning to sail with others girls. It's amazing! They could be working on something pretty much every weekend from now til the end of June.

In other news, my daughter applied for and was accepted onto the council's Girl Advisory Group. This is a great opportunity for her to work with girls of all ages and some new adults too.

First Official Brownie Meeting!

I wanted to jump right back in to Girl Scouts so we had our first meeting today! We met at a local mountain to start our Animals Try-It. We hiked around the lake and found lots of bugs, squirrels, two lizards, and three frogs. We saw evidence of beavers and chipmunks too. I even managed to keep my cool while a huge, fuzzy, yellow caterpillar crawled up my pants leg!

It was so good to see the girls again! Seven of the girls from last year were able to come, and and we had one brand new members. I am looking forward to lots of great activities this year!