Hellobee Boards

@regberadaisy: I will answer from the other side - DS started Cub Scouts this year and he loves it! When DD is old enough she will do Girl Scouts as well!

I believe they both start in 1st grade

We have a small den but average pack (3 kids in 1st grade but 30 in grades 1-5th)

My only complaint is the time commitment. There are SOOO many cool opportunities out there - I actually just went to a full day University of Scouting Class and wished I was a FT SAHM so I could do Cub Scouts all day - lol

For our kids the moms each take a turn hosting one month and then the pack meets once a month - so for us its 2 meetings a month and sometimes a fun outing on the weekend.

DS has a lot of anxiety (we have been working on this) and scouts has really gotten him out of his shell!!

@T.H.O.U.: good to know! DD starts K this fall - I will have to see of she can start - she is soo excited!

@regberadaisy: Hahah, yes, it was my SIL that is a troop leader. She has moved up with her daughter so she started as a daisy leader. She somehow knew that the current leader has a 1st grader and will obviously try to lead and move up with her, so that will leave the K/1 daisy with no leader.

@regberadaisy: there were definitely pros and cons to each way. With the troop at school they'd all walk together to their meeting a local church. Which meant if you were working you didn't need to worry about driving there. Not sure how easily an arrangement lie that would work now.

It was a little odd before I joined bc I remember wearing my uniform to school and people telling me my troop left without me. Ha!

Our Brownie troop leader works full time, but she works from home. Our meetings are only once a month and in the evening (6:30-8, this is pretty rough for us). Another troop I know of, the mom stays home, and she is able to hold the troop meetings at school right after school (this is ideal timing for me but all the girls in her troop are 3rd graders and our troop is 2nd graders). I had a co-worker who worked full time out of the house and also led a troop for older girls. What you get out of GS is entirely based on how much you put into it. Each troop is very different. There are some minimum requirements but my DD's troop is definitely very relaxed. Sometimes they craft at the meeting and I don't think they are even earning a badge. Sometimes we meet at the local park and eat Subway together. But it's a great group of somewhat diverse (not socio-economically, but racially I guess, kind of diverse) girls who go to 3 different schools and are not in the same class. I like that they gain exposure to other girls in the area who are not necessarily in the class. That is another avenue to developing friendships, and they are learning good values, about being a sister to every girl scout, stewardship, money management (cookies cookies cookies), etc. Also, our council sponsors day camps and sleep away camps in the summer which are very affordable and provide good clean outdoor fun. I asked around and found this troop from a friend. We joined a meeting kind of as a trial and H was glued to my leg, but by the end she loosened up. It has been a great experience so far!