Saying Goodbye To Girl Scouts (For Now?)

This year, Girl Scouts has been a pleasant surprise for me and for Celeste. I have no real history with the organization, and I'm wary of some of the political ideologies espoused by some of the general Girl Scout leadership. But none of that mattered when it came time to choose an extracurricular activity for Celeste last fall. What mattered was: Would Celeste enjoy Girl Scouts? Would she have fun participating in those kinds of activities? What sorts of things would she learn while in Girl Scouts? Would this activity be a sufficient replacement for dance class for this year?

Most of these questions were answered satisfactorily for us over the course of the last school year. One of the main reasons I agreed to put Celeste in Girl Scouts was its cheapness; the initial registration fee was very low, and after the cookie sales in the winter were done, many of her activities came at no cost (unless you count all the boxes of cookies we bought and gobbled up).

Beyond that, however, there were several other fun, creative activities Celeste was able to participate in, and she was able to have fun with a sweet bunch of girls and kind, enthusiastic leaders. I truly feel that Celeste learned a lot and had fun with everyone there. The variety of all the activities was also quite impressive. Besides the cookie sales, Celeste was able to attend a fancy tea party and learn about etiquette; make care packages for homeless shelters; attend a Halloween party; watch a University of Arizona basketball game; make homemade ice cream; jump around at a trampoline gym; attend a movie as a group; participate in an Easter-egg hunt and Easter luncheon; and have a mother-daughter painting date, among other things. And this list is just what Celeste was able to attend; there were several other activities we couldn't even make it to, due to our busy family schedule.

So was Girl Scouts worth it, even for a full school year? I'd venture a "yes": even if the meeting times were somewhat inconvenient (Friday nights, ugh), it was time well spent by my enthusiastic girl.

As the school year wound down, Celeste's Girl Scout troop tried to put together a handful of early-summer activities, so that the troop could get some more things done before people started leaving on vacations. During the week of Memorial Day, the troop planned no less than three different activities, all on different days and all in different parts of Pima County. Here are the two we managed to attend:

1. Celeste got to build another bear at Build-A-Bear.

This activity was not as novel as it might otherwise have been, due to our family's trip to Build-A-Bear at the New Year.  But no matter! Celeste was going to get the opportunity to build another bear! Best yet (for cheapskate Mom, anyway)--Celeste had a credit balance at the store , thanks to her Girl Scout cookie sales! It was actually a larger sum than we had given the girls at our Christmas trip; this enabled Celeste to be a bit more flexible in her purchase.

I thought that Celeste would certainly pick out a licensed character to stuff (they had My Little Pony and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys available, as well as the Minions from Despicable Me). However, in the end, Celeste settled on another bear...and this bear was adorned with the Girl Scout logo, and had a Girl Scout cookie pattern on her paws!

I wa

s surprised at the choice; every girl got to pick their own style of stuffed animal. No one was "forced" to pick anything. I suspect Celeste chose the Girl Scout-themed bear to remind her of how she got to the activity in the first place. It was a thoughtful choice.

Since she had some credit left over afterwards, she was able to get her bear some beautiful clothes!

Behold..."Beary Scout"! (This was Celeste's name for her bear. We'll see if it sticks!)

After everyone had stuffed their animals, the whole troop posed outside the store:

It was a fun activity and I'm grateful to the Girl Scout troop for so kindly providing the funds!

2. The great Girl Scout "Bridging" ceremony.

In a nutshell, this was Girl Scout "graduation." Each Girl Scout present was given a small bag of prizes and a diploma, and was then instructed to walk underneath the "bridge" of balloons. This action officially "promoted" all the girls into the next Scouting level. This meant that Celeste officially finished her time as a Daisy, and became a Brownie!

She was very proud of her accomplishment, and so was I. She was very enthusiastic and willing to help everyone all year; she was truly a Daisy with a good heart. We spent the rest of that evening eating (there was a lot of good food at this celebration) and spending time with friends.

Now it remained to be seen whether Celeste will advance into the Brownie role next year. Celeste was torn between doing Girl Scouts again and rejoining the Sahuarita Dance Center.

Ultimately, I talked her into passing on Girl Scouts for next year, for a few reasons. The biggest reason was time;  our family was getting tired of the Friday night activities. Call me selfish, but I want my weekend evenings to myself! Perhaps in the future, we can join a troop that will let us hold activities on another night.

Another factor to consider is the larger number of exracurricular activities Celeste may be signing up for this fall. She wants a part in next year's school play (if those parts will be available for 2nd graders, which I have been told might be the case. She will also be doing Sahuarita Dance next fall, and I suspect those two activities combined might be somewhat difficult to balance. Last of all, Celeste will be turning eight at the end of the year (eek!), and will start attending Activity Days through our church. Activity Days will likely feature many activities similar to those at the Girl Scout troop meetings. In short, it may help feed that desire for interaction that Celeste has become accustomed to as a Girl Scout.

So, Girl Scouts will be put on the back-burner...for now. There may be a troop activity or two that Celeste will be able to participate in this summer, but when school starts, it will be time to say goodbye. However, I told Celeste to be patient, and perhaps she will be able to do it again eventually. One of the older Girl Scout girls at the bridging ceremony (an older teenager) said in her farewell speech that "it's never too old to start Girl Scouts." And it's true! Even though we may not be getting back to girl Scouts for a while, it's entirely possible Celeste will be able to rejoin a troop at some point in the future.

However, that knowledge that Celeste is done with Girl Scouts (for now) has made me more wistful than I thought I would be. Celeste really did enjoy Girl Scouts, and I hope she will have the opportunity to have experiences like it again soon in the future! It has been a good year, and both of us have had lots of fun. Hooray for Girl Scouts!