Fall Products- Almond cran-orange crunch

I am very excited to get back to my troop. I love my summer break, but I miss those girls.

This year I am the returning community fall product liaison. Fancy word for sucker!

Yesterday was my scout planning day and I spent it getting ready for the training session with the lower half of our community's troop leaders. We were joined with another service unit a year or two ago and we still function as separate service units. I take care of my local troops and another woman does her area. I have 11 troops to her 22. I got the better deal, I think.

Last year I had a training that I did at a service unit meeting, but there was only 3 troops there. Everyone else had to be trained at a different time. It was frustrating for me because what started off as a simple project turned into something that took way to much of my time.

This year the council is offering an online training for troops. I have everything prepared for the troops who will attend the service unit meeting and the leaders who can not make it can do training online. They have to print out a certificate that they finished the course and then I will give them their girl packets. Should be fairly easy!

I am also having the product rally at our troop meeting place. I think this is a great way to start off the year. Last year we had a nice turn out, and I am hoping for that again. I used the fall rally guide given by council to plan. The only thing I am adding new is craft. I think I will have the girls make lip gloss. I did this once before for my own troop at a sleep over and it was fun. On Pinterest it says to heat up the Vaseline, but we did not when we made it. I am thinking of using coconut oil instead of Vaseline. It really just depends on the budget.

We have a few new items on the product list for the girls to sell. One is English Butter Toffee, OMG is this wonderful. I will be buying one or two of these from my daughter for sure. I tried them at the training and man, instant love.

The other product is a nut and fruit mixture called Almond Cran-Orange crunch. It comes in a zip close bag similar to last years Blueberry crunch item. What it is, is almonds and dried cranberries covered in a glaze. I was really surprised at how good this product was. It is very sweet, but the almonds are nice and big. I am not sure if I will buy this one or not, mainly because I have two bags now from the product training, but it is worth a try. And it is gluten free!!

Juniors here we come!

I can not believe it has been so long since the last post. I have to get better at that. I think sometimes I just do not have it in me to go over all of the garbage all over again.

September 2nd my troop starts Juniors. We are a very small troop again this year. Officially we have 5 girls, enough to be a troop. But one of my registered girls said she is not coming back. I think that will be in my mind now for the rest of the year. Filling that spot so we can continue on.

I love the girls that are with me and I love their parents. My daughter and my #2's daughter have been in Girl Scouts since Kindergarten! And it is so exciting to see the changes in them.

The plan for the year is set but flexible, since the girls have to have a chance to lead. I have picked the badges that we will work on but they will have to decide how they will accomplish it. Last year when they did the "Making Games" badge, we caught a glimpse of their leadership skills in action and I can not wait to see more of it.

We had attended, as a troop, a day camp and my girls were awesome as a team.  I got misty eyed just watching them using all the skills that we have gone over for the last few years. They listened to each other, they came up with a plan and they followed through. If Girl Scouts has affected them in this way while they were just trying to figure out a pirate map, imagine what their future will be like.

We will start off the year with the Agents of Change journey. I have seen so many people complain about the journeys and they do seem so much like school work. I like to dissect them and make them fit our troop. Once we have completed that we can get to work on the bronze award.

This year I am also including a few fun patches with requirements. I think these should be call fun badges. I say fun patch and I think of the patch you get for attending an event, but these actually have requirements. Like fun little journeys that the girls have to earn. Nothing will be just handed over.

I am hoping that it will liven up the year.

We also have a winter camp set up! My girls LOVE to camp, and I rented us a cabin at Camp Happy Valley near Gettysburg in January. And right now starts the prayers for a nice weather weekend because I have been to this camp and it is WAY out there. I can not wait to tell the girls!

This is where we stayed in July. This is Camp Echo Trail and we stayed in the tipi unit called Hilltop. We invited a local 2nd year Brownie troop to come with us. Their leaders were not outdoor skill trained and we had a huge unit for our small troop. It was a BLAST! The girls had so much fun with the other troop. Everyone got a long. The other leaders were so helpful. The parent that came with them was helpful. It was such a nice change. I said I would go again with this troop in a heart beat. Plus, it kept the cost of camp down so much that it was incredibly affordable. Now our January camp will be more expensive as cabins cost 70$ a night over the 30$ we paid for these tipi's and Adirondacks, but we may invite them again and cut the cost in half!

What to do with a bully in your troop.

This is the story of a bully in my troop and the ineffectual advice given by my council. I am writing this in hopes that if you have to deal with this in your own troop, you will know that you are not alone.

In this day in age, the word bully gets used a lot and it tends to be the catch word for anytime a child is picking on another child. This generation's buzz word. A lot of times, it is just the same picking on and name calling that we have all lived through. This time it is not simple kids stuff.

This one child in my troop stopped coming. We will call her A. It was odd, because she always seemed to have such a good time. She had joined our troop with her friend, who we will call B.

When we reached out to the parents we found out the truth in why she was not coming. B had been picking on her and A did not want to deal with it out scouts.

Then I asked the question that changed our troop, "Well what is going on?"

Turns out, this hasn't been going on for a few days or weeks, but has been ongoing for years! At a certain point, A forgave B and tried to be her friend, but then B got super possessive.

We had seen this possessiveness in the beginning of the troop year when we tried to separate the girls and B got strange. She was glaring at A's partner and being very aggressive with her own partner. We had to keep saying to her that she needed to stay with the partner she had and work together. We told both parents about this and chalked it up to best friends learning to be with other kids.

After that time, each time we seperated the girls, it was less and less of a reaction. We thought that it was working out.

In February we talked about bullying and B explained to us all that she used to bully A and that she asked for forgiveness and now they were friends. We thought that this was a huge step that she was taking responsibility for what she had done and was moving forward. We were so impressed with this that we had mentioned it when we met with our council rep. (remember how she was supposed to be trained in October, yeah she got trained in MARCH!!)

Anyway, there was ongoing issues between the girls at school and because the parents were friends, B's mom asked A's mom to just tell her when things happened instead of going to the school.

A's mom unloaded what could only be years of frustrations over this other child's behavior to her kid. I listened to her and being that my own child has dealt with this child's bad behavior I was very sympathetic. When it finally came to a boiling point, A decided she did not want to spend any extra time under B's possessiveness. I told the parent's that I understood and that we would try to talk to B and her mother and see if there was a way we could at least get A comfortable enough to come back to meetings. We promised that A would not be paired up with B. We asked that the mom drop her off right when the meeting was starting so that there was no down time where the two girls would interact with each other. We figured that we would just step in anytime B was near A and we could just make it through the year and we would find a different troop for B in September.

A agreed that if B would leave her alone and we can protect her, that she would come back to the troop. This was great news. So I sent a message to B's mom and told her that we needed to talk to her and her daughter before our meeting.

Then the mom did the most..... I still can not put it into words.... strangest thing a parent could do. She told us that she did not have time for this and that if there was a issue we could talk to B on our own and deal with the problem ourselves.

What????

You don't want to be involved in your child's life? She did something wrong and you DON'T want to be part of the solution??? I have never heard of that. Why would someone not meet with us to fix a problem. She was already dropping off the child, so why would she not have 5 minutes to spare to talk to us.

This made my co-leader so angry! I was not pleased in anyway, but I still had to talk to the girl. Beth lead the girls and I talked to B in the kitchen area of our meeting room.

The little girl listened to me and told me that she gets so angry she shakes. She cried and said that she hated when her dad and step mother yell at her. That her dad says mean things. I almost cried listening to her because it was a heartbreaking story. I told her that she needed to leave A alone. No more calls, no more yelling at her at school, to just leave her alone. I also told her that when she is mad that it is a good idea to write in a journal about what is making her feel that way, that sometimes you can write what you can not say.

B agreed and I talked to the mom a little bit. She was in a rush to leave so it was not the full conversation that was needed.

The next day I got messages on Facebook from the mom. She gave me a whole song and dance on why B behaves the way she does. She also blamed the dad and his behavior on the way she acts. I listened to her and when the conversation got awkward, I just gave her vague answers. I told Beth about the conversation and she was floored. We talked and we really think that IF everything that the girl was saying was true, she really needs to be in therapy and to talk to someone. She said she was so angry she shakes and that she can not control what she does.  These are all signs of a child needed help.

Beth and I decided that we needed to talk to our council rep for answers. We needed direction on where to go from here since the mom wanted nothing to do with it. What were our options for if she did not follow our suggestions.

The first response that I got was to give her a few days and that she will talk it over with her boss and see what they could tell us to do.

In the mean time, we heard from A's mom who said that B left a message on their machine saying that "Before the end of the year, I will punch you in the face and tape your mouth shut. I hate you."

Which means that nothing had changed.

The conversation we had went in one year and out the other.

And all of a sudden I think I was played by a 10 year old girl. I realized that she is taking out her anger on getting in trouble on A. This has completely backfired.

A's mom said that there is no way she will come back if the other girl is in the troop.

We sent a message to B's mom that because things were still continuing and we were waiting on a response from our council rep, that we felt it was best that B did not come to the meeting that night. We needed time to figure out a plan of action.

I think that is when the mom just about lost her mind.

She told us fine then B wont come to any meetings anymore. She wanted to know what we were doing to punish A since she felt that B was being punished. She said that A is a very smart girl and had a way of holding a grudge.

What??? She is blaming the victim? Let me tell you that there is no way I was going to punish a child who is being bullied. You just don't do that. And it isn't like B is saying, you have cooties. She is threatening A with physical violence.

Did I step off the train into crazy town? How do you deal with an irrational parent? She then told me that she wished she could kill herself.

Are you freaking serious???

Eventually my council rep called me back. Her response made me really think that I was in crazy town. I explained the whole situation to her and she told me that she talked to her boss and the best thing they could tell me was to ask the school guidance councilor.

Seriously??? Call the guidance councilor??

She also said that since none of this was happening in the troop, we could not do anything about it. She asked us if we wanted to remove her from our troop and place her in another troop. I said no that there was only a few meetings left and the mom said that she wasn't going to bring her to meetings. There was not point in switching troops now. We would just finish the year. 

B's mom sent me a message saying that the dad wanted a meeting with both girls, both sets of parents and Beth and I. There was no way I was going to subject a victim to a meeting with her bully and her parents. Parents that do not think their child is wrong and that actually think that the VICTIM is to blame. Yeah so not happening. Plus we tried to have a meeting and she did not have time for us. I was so done with this that I did not want to have a meeting with the parents. I mean why, the mom wasn't bringing B to meetings anymore, she was only going to bring her to the troops trips. A's parents said that she would be back next year when B was no longer in the troop. Why did we need a meeting?

Beth and I decided to just let it blow over. B's dad was bringing her to our first troop trip and if he asked about what was going on we would deal with it then. The dad was super nice during the trip and did not bring anything up. We thought we were in the clear. Neither girl was going to be at meetings. We would deal with B at the last meeting for bridging and at camp and then she would be moving to a different school district and a different troop if they resigned up.

Que our next meeting. I was just about to get started with the meeting when B walked in with her mom. Beth was furious and I wasn't to happy either. I had a plan and purchased things for 4 girls. I was a little awkward and Beth got up and moved. She told me after the mom left if she would have stayed there she might have said something that she did not want to say.

We went through the meeting and everything was fine. When the mom came back in, things were awkward as Beth did not want to talk to her, but I did talk to her. When I got home, I had a message waiting from A's parents saying that officially A will not be involved in anything that B is involved with. There was still thing's going on at school, including B grabbing A and leaving fingernail marks on her arm.

As I was dealing with this, I got a message from B's mom asking why there was tension between us and her at pick up. And why did I like a post about bullying. (the one that has been going around where the dad got a restraining order against his 5 year old's bully)

Really??? Oh man. To which I responded, "I added Beth to the conversation because I feel it is best for us all to see the messages. She is my co-leader and needs to be included. Quiet honestly we are very upset by the way this whole thing is playing out. We were having a good year and this is a horrible way to end our year. I can like anything I want on my facebook page. I do not like the idea of kids picking on kids and to just get a message that A is completely our because things are still continuing is very off putting. I am a volunteer, not a councilor, and I have no idea how to handle a situation like this. I have never had a child quit because she was having anxiety over coming to a meeting because of another child! Surely you can understand why we are uncomfortable with the whole thing."

To which she responded with, "Fine we are out. I know when we aren't wanted" 

This all makes my head hurt. There is a lot more, I will post tomorrow.

Make new friends badge

Last night we worked on our Make New Friends badge. The girls were able to invite non scout friends to the meeting. Out of 7 of my scouts we had 4 friends show up. I think that is a great turn out.

We started the meeting with the law and the promise. We did a call and repeat style so the new girls would know what to say.

Then we played a game called "hey me too!" We stood in a circle... Ok my girls didn't want a circle, they wanted a square which turned in to a squishy square and in the end became known as a lemon bar. Idk, but these girls are creative and funny. Anyway, then I girl started and she would say, I love soccer and any girl who liked soccer would say hey me too. It went over really well and they were all giggling. In the end. Even the girl who was a little shy was getting into it.

Next I had purchased a parachute from Michaels, like the one from elementary school. We all grabbed a hold and I would call things about the girls. If I said girls with blue eyes, they would have to go under the chute and come up in a different spot. 

They were having so much funny. I was so happy it was going well. 

We moved into the kitchen and started to make our snack. I needed something quick easy and fun. I tend to really overdo things and run out of time, plus these other girls don't know me, so I definitely wanted something easy. I went with fruit salad. We used strawberries, grapes, bananas and pineapples. 

I had two girls wash the grapes. Two girls peeled and cut the bananas, two girls cut the strawberries. The pineapple was a bit harder because I forgot my corer, but Miss B got out the knife and we sliced it up. All the girls out the fruit in a bowl and we stirred and viola fruit salad.

While they were eating it was interesting to listen to what 3rd grade girls talk about. And I was so happy to see the girls spread out. A girl might have been invited by one girl but for snack she was sitting by another. Everyone was talking and laughing. 

We then cleaned up and had a craft. I got felt book markers from Michaels and stickers and they started to make them. All of a sudden the girls start singing "baby bumble bee". I love to hear girls singing.

We finished the meeting with the squeeze, the brownie song and make new friends. I think this meeting was a total success! This really was on point with what the badge was all about. We made new friends and even if all the girls did not have a friend show up, the new friends were very welcomed into the group and everyone had a good time.

Safety award/brownie first aid

This badge we did the first year but I wanted the girls to earn their safety awards. Good thing my #2 has a mom who is a nurse. Nurse Linda, as the girls called her, agreed to come in and talk to us about camp safety.

I was so happy about that because not only are we doing our troop came at Echo Trail this year but some girls will be camping every month till October! She went over some basic first aid but more importantly poisonous plants.

Now I grew up in the woods. My sister and I made playhouses in the trees. I spent my summers equally outside or in my room. I made it 33 years without getting poison ivy. The first time I got it I was at a festival and it clearly had posted to be aware of the poison ivy. Sat in a field listening to music and the next month was itchy as all heck. I swore I would never do that again.

Next year, I went to the same festival but avoided the ivy field. Still got it! This time it was worse and took a long time to heal.

I am going to the festival again this year, but hopefully my little brownie will be able to point out the plants before I get itchy!

The girls listened intently to her and asked a crazy amount of questions. Then we made small first aid kits for each girl to take to camp.

Making games

I think I got a glimpse of what Juniors will be. We have been working on our games. We divided the girls into two teams. Each team had to come up with a board game, design it and the rules and make it. It took them 3 weeks to do but they had to do it on there own, no help from me. The girls had a blast and it was so nice for me to not have to plan a meeting. First time in 4 years!

It's over!

Cookie season that is! Finally deposit went into the bank this week and our council will take its cut next week. 

What is it about cookies that stresses a leader out? But I am so glad that it is over. I call it a success because we will be able to go to camp and Reptile Land. The girls are so excited.

We have been working on our own board games at the meetings. This is for our making games badge. The girls are split into two groups and they have to make their own game, then play their game and switch with the other group and play their game. They are putting so much into this game. 

Last week we had a visitor to talk to the girls about first aid. Next week we are going to the local junior troop to do our bridging work.