My dd is currently a Brownie and will be a Junior in the Fall. Our troop leader has great intentions but is so busy (5 kids, full time job) that things get put aside and we find out at the last minute. There are alot of things that I think the girls should be getting out of it that I don't think they are getting, alot of Try-Its I think they should have earned that they haven't. I thought maybe I could handle a small troop, how hard is it? Another thought is to have a parent handle one meeting a season and have them plan and run the meeting to take some of the pressure off of our leader. My other dd will be a Brownie next year so can you combine Brownie & Junior troops? If I had a troop of 10 would that be too small?

By Vicki on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 07:24 pm:

We have a troop of 8. There are 2 of us that do it together. We have 2 meeting a month. One she does and one I do. That way we only have one meeting a month to prepare for. I do all the try its. We earn at least one a month. Sometimes more if they are either fast ones, or if we take a trip that we earn one at. You can combine troops, but I think it would be harder. Maybe not, but I think it would be. You would have double the things to prepare for. It seemed very overwhelming at the beginning, but we have it down now. We are also 3rd year Brownies and will be bridging soon!!

By Mommyof4 on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 09:36 pm:

Disclaimer: I am writing this from the view point of a leader who has felt the parents of her girl scouts "turn" on her. Please do not think that I believe that YOU would behave in this way. :-)

I think it is great that you want to help out and be involved with your daughter and her firends but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be kind to the current Girl Scout leader she volunteered to be a leader because she cared about your daughter and the other girls in the troop and probably is trying very hard to do her very best. (I'm not saying that YOU wouldn't be respectful to her because I'm sure you would) Last year two of the parents for our troop decided that they really didn't like the way the other leader and myself did things. Really that is OK it is nice to bring more people in who have different ideas and skills etc. but they were down right NASTY about it. One wrote us an eMail that said she was a highly organized person and could no longer associate with such a disorganzied leadership group then proceeded to contact the council and got approval to contact the parents of the girls and form her own troop (she told the council a story about the troop being so big that we all wanted to split it up...True it was big but it wasn't something we had all agreed upon or even discussed for that matter). All of this was done without talking to the other leader or myself until it was over and done with. A very un-Girl Scouts thing to do in my opinion.

I guess what I am trying to say here is that I would suggest you talk with the current leader and see if you can fill in the areas that need filling in and help to take over some of the duties that she may not have time for and go from there with getting the troop back on track.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 12:20 am:

Wow, my daughter has been so lucky. She has had the same leaders since 2nd grade and they are wonderful! J. has more of the business sense and R. is sooooo creative! She loves to stamp and incorporates stamping into a lot of their projects. DD14's vest is so full of cadette project patches! They do so much cool stuff. This year, I'm the cookie mom. (for the first time since kindergarten!) I got through getting everybody's forms and filling out the forms for ordering. On Friday DH and I have to go pick up 588 boxes of cookies! (or whatever that works out to in full cases!) They sold 588 boxes. My DD sold 130 herself and we didn't even work that hard at it. Some years have been like that.

So, we are lucky and haven't had leader problems.

I had cool leaders when I was a scout, too. When I was 15, we took a 2-week trip to Mexico and spent part of the week in and around Mexico city and and the other week in and around the International Girl Scout Center in Cuernavaca! It was a very fun trip! (Also, missed 7 days of school! LOL! It was the only time I got to take a trip in the winter and come back in Jan. with a tan! I loved having people ask me if I had gone on a trip!)

By My2girlygirls on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 07:36 am:

Tammie, I understand where you're coming from. I would never be rude to her, she really does try hard. I think she just gets overwhelmed and can't get it all done. I think I may just suggest that a different parent take a meeting and run it. That would really take the weight off of her back. I'm thinking about her as much as the girls. I know there are going to parents that don't care to take the meetings and run them, they are more interested in dropping their kids off at meetings and leaving them. I will talk to a couple of the moms and see what they think.
Thanks for the input. I still may end up branching out on our own and forming a Juniors troop....

By Texannie on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 08:11 am:

It does sound like your leader is overwhelmed. Maybe the parents can take turns helping. We have had one main leader since 1st grade. The troop has been as big as 20 and now as juniors we have 12. The parents take turns helping at each meeting. We have a cookie mom, a mom who handles on the badges ect. This year the girls are taking turns leading the meetings. Groups of two plan the whole thing.
I would think hard about splintering off. I don't know if your girls are all in the same school or not, but if you splinter who goes with you? Only the girls you want? Only the girls your daughter is friends with? What happpens if she gets mad at on and doesn't want her in the troop? What happens to the other girls' feelings who didn't make the cut? I would try to work with the moms, leader and girls to make your one troop really fantastic.

By My2girlygirls on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 08:26 am:

Believe me, I would rather not splinter off, partially because of the reasons you stated and partly because it is alot of work. I think if the parents pitched in it could really make a difference. I am hoping to find another troop for my younger one that will start in the fall, I think they need to be in different troops. They both need to be individuals, if they are in the same troop I think Kiersten will always be "Courtney's little sister" rather than just Kiersten.

By Texannie on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 09:20 am:

Ya'll have different ages in the same troop? Ours are divided by grade.
If this were me, rather than rallying the other parents, I would go to the current leader and say "you know, you have so much on your plate, what can I do to help out with Brownies?"

By Palmbchprincess on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 01:05 pm:

My troop of Brownies was small and we stayed together well after we became Juniors, with the same leaders and all. The reason we broke up the troop was the prospect of combining it with another town's troop. I think a small troop is fine, we were all best friends through school and planning events was easier with less girls.