I'm feeling a bit frustrated in regards to our current Girl Scout situation.  My daughter wanted to join Daisies, but there weren't any troops "near" us (within 40 minutes drive) at the time.  This year, there was a troop, but … well.  This entire school year they have had five meetings.  Five.  They have not gone on any outings.  The meetings seem chaotic and poorly planned, in spite of the good intentions of the leader.  I was asked to be a co-leader, but given my other BSA hats, I just can't invest as much time as would be necessary to turn the troop around.

Long story short, after a "straw that broke the camels back", my almost-nine-year-old daughter and I decided that this troop isn't getting us where we want to be.  We want to spend time together, and I want to give my daughter the same sense of pride and accomplishment that my boys had when they were in Cub Scouts.  As a result, we quit the troop yesterday and have decided to look into other options.

I have some ideas of how to handle the situation, but Mommy Guilt is taking over and I'm feeling pretty frustrated.  I'd  be willing to drive the 40 minutes to a different troop – but I was able to see an area event and NONE of the troops seem to have their stuff together.  I know we can "Juliette" (Lone Scout equivilent, for those who are BSA inclined) but I'm not entirely sure how THAT would work, since Scouting feels like it should be a *group* activity.

Any suggestions, advice, or recommendations?  (Short of starting my own troop, which I just am not willing to do at this point.)

Doh!  Well.  I was trying NOT to make it a "Girl Scouts sucks" thread! 

As a Cub Scout leader, I don't really WANT girls in Cub Scouts, but as the mother of a girl, I wish they could be.  Moot point since they aren't allowed in, but still.

Thanks for the advice.  Our pack always lets all the siblings and parents (if they want) race in our derby (we have a tiny pack so that makes it easier) but it always feels like my daughter gets dragged along and we haven't found anything that's "just for us" that I can get on board with the way I have BSA.  I want my daughter to have the same sense of accomplishment and similar opportunities to gain skills as the boys did, but that something *is not* this particular troop and to drive almost 2 hours per meeting round trip AND offer to organize major events and activities isn't something I can commit to right now while working my Wood Badge ticket, working with the district committee, and with the role I play in our Pack.

(Ohh, I can hear Jerry prickling as we speak about "too many hats".) 

If I were more on board with the GS program, I'd probably drop one of my BSA hats in order to switch over, but ugh. 

(And here's where I'm cutting this post because I don't want to say anything negative about the GS program, which I'm sure is just perfectly fine and enjoyable, just not my thing.)

MISS Lib,

Totally thinking outside of the box, so perhaps this wouldn't work, but wondering outloud.  (I'm a little worried that what I might say will be controversial.)  Since you are helping with Cub Scouts, would it be possible for Jen to Juliette, and for activities that have some overlap and perhaps for some community, she could come on some cub scout outings? 

As I don't have girls, I know nothing about the GS program, other than that it seems much less structured and freeform based on my limited memories as a Girl Scout, than the BSA program.  Would it be possible to tie in some of her requirements and achievements with stuff going on with your cubbies.

I have no real opinion about girls in cub scouts.  (Although after several years of chaperoning co-ed high school regetta trips and the 'hooking up' that occurred, I cringe at the idea of co-ed Venturing camping trips.) However, we have brothers and sisters that come to all of our meetings and participate in the den activities and events.  We have a sibling division of all of our pack events. 

I certainly don't want folks to think that I'm suggesting encouraging girls to sneak into cub scouts using this method, but I'm wondering that given your current obligations and time restraints, if this type of plan would give you mommy-daughter time, allow you to help with your packs, and provide Jen with some positive scouting experience?

Thanks for all the great advice.

One of my nearest and dearest friends is a Troop leader for three different Girl Scout Troops and she assures me that they do fun and exciting things every week.  We all know that when a program is being implemented correctly and parents and kids are on board and fully participating, things are going to be good.  (Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.)  As MISS Kris mentioned, though, if things aren't going well – meh… I've bailed water on sinking ships til my arms were numb – no regrets – but I'm not going to jump onto a ship that's sinking at this point.

As far as giving my daughter a Scouting experience, Jenica helps me with day camp.  She and I are going to be the Tot Lot queens at this summer's day camp and we're both looking forward to it.  It's a chance for her to test the waters of leadership in a very safe, very supervised atmosphere.  Last year, the little kids just adored Jenica and she had a lot of fun, too.  I'm also planning on getting her a camp blanket (or… who knows?? maybe I can convince SOMEONE *coughMisskriscough* to make her a vest!) so she can put patches she's "earned" along the way on it – things like Scouting for Food, and other patches she's received for going along on various outings, etc.  We give patches to all the siblings who participate as well as the Cub Scouts.  I don't know if I'll Juliette with Jen, but I can look through the Bear book and get my GS leader friend to look through her book to find out what activities are age appropriate and just pick and choose what we want to do from there.

I realized when reading all of this, that for both Jen and I it's about the PROCESS – not about the finish line.  I'm not saying that a girl earning her Gold award or a boy earning Eagle isn't an amazing and worthwhile goal, it's just that if we're doing the things that it would take to earn ranks and badges, patches and pins, it's really the process of DOING those things that matters to us.  If my daughter were a different sort of kid (or I a different sort of mom) we might feel differently, but this discussion definitely helped me to realize that I'm looking for the process, not the outcome – I can do that without leadership or swag.

The one thing I would like to do is start looking into retreats/camps we could go to together this summer.  Heck, maybe the two of us will just hop in the car and take a road trip. :)

Thanks again for all the great advice and support.  Y'all are the bestest.

You know, MISS Lib, you could always stop by the Juliette Gordon Low house, which is only about 200 miles from me… When I was in Savannah a few weeks ago, the city was crawling with little girls in green or brown vests.

Do you know why they moved away from the full-uniform?  I totally loved wearing mine– much like my Tiger loves wearing his.