AnneinMpls

Oh my....what do I want for Christmas? I want my kiddo home with me. Also, I want to not feel gulty for wanting her with me, instead of going to her dad's. Sigh. I want her to have a wonderful visit - it's been more than two years since she's seen him, and she's feeling flu-ish and miserable this weekend and her flight out is in two days. *I* want a nice date with a sweet guy. No one on the horizon though. Sigh, again I want my friends to have some joy this season - seems every one of them is being hit hard this year. One is celebrating her first Christmas apart from her kiddo this year and cried on my shoulder yesterday. Another is recovering from cancer surgery and heading towards divorce. Another one - her grandpa just passed away and she's hosting an extra family in her home who were evicted from their apartment last week. And today just heard another friend's mother passed away over the weekend. I wat so much to be there for each of them, but the well is seeming to be running a bit dry just now...shall light some candles I suppose. Peace, Anne in Mpls

"If you build it, they will come" Hi Nickie, and welcome to the forum! We do have a separate Girl Scouting forum here but it tends to go dormant from time to time and then people no longer realize we have one ) Congratulations on your new project with S2B! I guess I've got questions for you before any real advice... 1. Are you connected yet with your local Service Unit or Neighborhood or whatever they are calling the local organization to support girl scout volunteers in your area, smaller than your Council? The Service Unit has, or is supposed to have(!!) a recruitment plan. It may be based on the schools, or on geographic areas, or some other way. You'll want to get in touch with a person possibly called a Troop Organizer/Recruiter (unfortunately GSUSA lacks the consistent terminology for volunteer positions that BSA has...) Possibly they will already be able to provide you with a list of names of girls who have been waiting for a troop to form. 2. Have you decided, or has it been decided what ages/grade levels of girls you will serve? S2B has some complexities in terms of breaking the programming for teens down into 3 different age groups. Which girls will you serve? 3. Ok, real advice S2B is supposed to be totally "By Girls, For Girls", but in order to get things off the ground, you'll need to put on a few really awesome programming events so that they have some idea of what's available to them. Rock climbing? Horseback riding? Sailing or canoeing? 4. I have heard of some really excellent programs getting off the ground by seeding the new troop by getting referrals from folks like Gifted and Talented teachers, and so on. You want to get some really sharp kids on board early on so the S2B group doesn't flounder for months in the hanging out eating pizza stage. Look forward to hearing more from you! Anne in Mpls

This is near and dear to my heart For Cub-age through Webelos I recommend the Crinkleroot's guides by Jim Arnosky. They tend to go in and out of print but are always easily available from used booksellers or libraries. If you want lots of detail and project-based learning, Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study is fabulous. We also take advantage of the experts at our state parks and the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. You absolutely have to be in the habit of getting out the door as often as possible. Get to know a particular trail or habitat in every season of the year, etc.

Did this erstwhile Eagle get a girl pregnant? And do we even want to begin to consider the feasibility of setting up abstinance as a litmus test? Can you imagine trying to follow up on every accusation??? Sigh.

Hi folks! Trying hard to cross my tees and dot my eyes. I'd like to pick up a current documentation/cert. in canoeing safety/handling because I have a bunch who really really want to canoe. Two potential opportunities have fallen through (cancelled due to low registrations). I'm wondering of someone on here knows of another possibility? We're *not* wanting to do anything more than flatwater or class I, and short daytime stuff only right now. I can handle a canoe, and learned some basic how to instruct - conduct tip tests, etc. back as a CIT, but that was umm, more than 15 years ago, and the records are gone too. We're wanting to go out around July 22, so I'm scrambling to get some refresher and something on paper. Thankee!

Be careful you're not storing it in a damp basement - rusted up all the zippers on my old Gerry, before....duh...got a dehumidifier running down there.

Yha, little folk are very sensitive to their environment. If you cant switch rooms, take a look ad see what can be done with the space you have. Can the first boys to arrive help arrange tables into a U shape or box...something that deliniates the den's own space. Or maybe bring in a large piece ofcarpet to put down that visually says this part of the room is where we meet and the rest is off limits. Or one of those old rolling chalkboards moved into position to partition the room. Also, establish a routine for *exactly* what happens when they arrive - select a chair, hang their coat, check their uniform in the mirror... Develop of list of active but not running around games - circle games, "partner" stunts, beanbad toss type games - allows for energy without the running around the big room part of it. Also look at your meeting length. Oddly, sometimes a meeting time that is too short can cause *more* chaos - you can try adding 15 minutes, and have a break for a snack in the middle. Good luck! Anne in Mpls

Marilyn, I'm really sorry - I looked every one of my storage tubs out in the garage and couldn't find it. It must have been in the crate of things I donated back to Viking Council. I wasn't sure though because I still had a couple tubs of cub scout supplies left at my house. I'd purchased the My Scout Badge for use with one of our Webelos who was bridging over to Scouts who had some significant delays and brain injury. Good luck - I hope a copy turns up for you.

I've been "advertising" this site on and off to other GS folks, but sometimes the forum goes a bit quiet and it's hard to find the conversations. The forum will automatically diplay topics that have been active in the last 30 days, but if you want to see more, you need to select from the drop-down list. By selecting "Show all topics" and clicking the "go" button, you'll get a better idea of the range of things we discuss here. So, welcome! And let us know something about yourself You can introduce yourself here, or in the "Calling all Girl Scouts" thread. Peace out, Anne in Mpls

I had a copy of this at one time - there's a couple places in my house I can look for it tomorrow. Peace, Anne

Explain how you did that please?

Well our new Junior troop has been growing - we had two nice-sized patrols at camp last weekend, and now this month we are adding 5 new fly-ups, and we've had a couple girls return after a brief time away, and we've picked up a couple more, so...we're looking at three patrols now for the coming year I'm drawing up a written ballot for nominating patrol leaders - having the troop as a whole choose these persons, then in the next section, if they are wanting to keep their curret patrol, they can write that info in. If they are interested in regrouping or forming a new patrol, there's a list of all active and new troop members so they can circle 6 names for consideration in forming patrols. Lots of outdoor plans for the summer....lots of difficult adult personalities to sort out...the girls are the easy part Peace out! Anne in Mpls

We're implementing the patrol system to counteract defects in our adult leadership My assistant leader (we're GS's btw) tends to be very "top-down" and adult-directed. Now that we have functioning patrols, whenever she wants to tell girls what to do, I tell her to tell it only to the patrol leaders It's tiny, but it's a step in the right direction! And she's been able to learn to interact with the patrol leaders instead of getting on every single girls' case - that extra step of remembering who's patrol, and who's the patrol leader also gives her time to think through and calm down so that by the time the words are coming out of her mouth they are less directive and more suggestive. We're a pretty young troop as yet - 4th and 5th graders - more like Webelos to you - I've had to let our patrol leaders know that they can refer behavior issues to me if a friendly reminder doesn't work - but the "work" of the patrol has gone smoothly. I was surprised at how a little tiny bit of "drill" helped to further the idea of patrol spirit - the simple idea of falling in by patrols - they like it! One patrol chose to enter the camp cook-off - they won a silk-screened dishtowel for their patrol box (see the "sweet potato pie" thread for the recipe!). Next time we might have more patrols choose to enter... Anne in Mpls

Hi folks - wanted to say a big thank you to you for your help and advice! Ran short of time, so did not follow up with a high temp round of seasoning the DO, but the amount of seasoning I did do worked very well. I also used another tip posted here somewhere to use vegetable oil spray in the DO before baking. Thought you might want the "recipe" Troop 1021's Dutch Oven Sweet Potato Pie Microcook 3 good-size sweet potatos until tender. Allow to cool slightly, then peel, cut into thirds, and place in food processor with chopping blade. Process just until smooth - this side of a puree. Add spices: 1 teaspoon each nutmeg cinnamon and ginger, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 cup of sugar. This mixture went into a tupperware bowl that was large enough to hold the additional ingredients to finish mixing up at camp. Three beaten eggs went into an empty jar (break the eggs into the jar, then use just one mixer attachment on a hand mixer, beat the eggs right in the jar) - the sealed bowl and the sealed jar go nicely into the cooler - saves the long cooking time for the sweet potatoes and the need to carry eggs in the shell to camp. At camp, add the eggs and one can of evaporated milk to the bowl of sweet potatoes. Spray the DO with vegetable spray. We used prepared refrigerated pie crust - our DO turned out to be large enough to need 2 crusts in order to come up the sides enough to make the pie shell. Fill the pie shell with the sweet potato mixture. Our cooking times were very...hit or miss. We had soaking rain on Saturday, so we set fire to whatever we could get to hold a flame We cooked over a combo wood/charcoal fire - blackened about half the bottom of the pie crust but amazingly the crust still tasted *really really good* (must be that seasoning of the DO??) Finally managed to get the charcoal hot enough to do some good on top of the DO. It all turned out very good Let's see...roasted chicken and corn on the cob, campfire lasagna (one pot recipe using mini lasaga noodles), sloppy joes...we ate very well Thanks folks! Anne in Mpls

Also to be considered.. Depending on the laws of your state, you might be what's called in this state a "mandated reporter", meaning that due to your position of responsibility you might be required to report to child protection authorities any clear suspicion of child abuse or endangerment or neglect. Please note that these laws vary considerably from one state to another. These acting-out youngsters might be youngsters at risk, ie precocious sexuality can be related to that child having experienced sexual abuse. Definitely get the professional scouters involved and don't just let the UC (who is like yourself "just a volunteer") put it back on you volunteers to try to sort this one out. Peace, Anne in Mpls

Ah well, you get brownie points for at least wondering Peace, Anne in Mpls

Hey Seattle Pioneer I've appreciated your postings. The hotdog episode I find intriguing. You've got lots of folks here telling ehat you should or should't have done...but I'm curious... What did the scout have to say about it? Ever ask him afterwards about it? See, I can see it playing it out in a few different ways...maybe it came off as good humor...maybe it felt heavy-handed...maybe it was about time for this PL to finally get the point that he has a patrol he serves and needs to think of...but we weren't there. We don't know, we can only infer from the small amount of info given... Anne, curious in Mpls

Umm, Trevorum, how is it that you have a 17 yo daughter who does't know how to light a fire?

Don't forget that young people move through cycles of equilibrium and disequilibrium, in roughly yearly cycles. Add excessive pushing at the wrong parts, and you might keep them stalled in that disequilibrium swing of the pendulum! In the meantime, take a step back, and quietly observe your kiddo: Sounds like you've just gone through a major upheaval - is she still finding her feet in a new school and new friends? Well, dunno...sounds like it was a couple years ago now...maybe? Take a look at everything that is going right for her - make a list if it helps What are her areas of competence? The stuff she most enjoys doing - the things that are seemingly effortless - umm, I'm trying to think of that concept of "flow" - when you are caught up in something that is your center of competence and you "make it look easy". I wasn't able to get much of a sense of who your daughter *is* from what you wrote above... *After* you have this kind of vision, you'll be better able to offer encouragement to her to pursue the Gold. And, yup, the Interest Projects can come across as a real pain but if the focus is on her interest (which is really the point...) the requirements begin to make sense: exploring how that interest ties in to potential career choices, giving service - passing on skills to younger girls, etc. She might also need some help with realistic expectations: Be honest! At work do you put 110% into *every single task*, or are you allowed to shorthand some of it, get someone else to do some things, and focus your energy are the things you know are really the most important? Sometimes youg people can be very "black and white" in their thinking, expecially under stress. If Dad wants her to achieve, she might overinterpret that to mean every single piece of it ought to be a pinnacle of excellence and then it starts to look pretty impossible. You might try an experiment this week: see if you can find 3 opportunities for her to catch you "taking a lick at a snake" in order to get something done. Let her hear you use phrases like "that's good enough", "let's just get it done, it's not brain surgery", etc. Hope some of this is helpful! Peace and blessings to you and yours, Anne in Mpls

I have a troop of 4th and 5th grade girls with a small (tiny!) amount of camp cooking experience. For our encampment in two weeks, each patrol is responsible for a one-pot meal cooked on a camp stove, and a tinfoil meal cooked in the firepit. We broke it down this way, because we have two meal times that we'll be permitted to cook at (it is a council-wide very programmed weekend) and are only alloted one firepit due to the size of the encampment and site considerations. In order to extend the experience, I challenged (not required!) each patrol to find a way to add one of the foods from a listing of foods that are especially good at meeting nutritional needs of women. (The lists came from a couple different magazine articles, one titled Power Foods, and the other Top Ten Foods for Women. The foods to choose from were 1. Beans, for iron and fiber 2. Dark green brassica veggies such as broccoli or kale, for folic acid, possible cancer prevention 3. Cantalope - beta carotene, vit A and C, 4. fish, particularly tuna or salmon for Omega 3 and protein, 5. Garlic to increase flavor without over reliance on salt and ketchup 6. Oats or oatmeal - whole grain, protein, fiber 7. Soy, tofu, etc for protein, calcium 8. Orange veggies: sweet potatoes, pumpkin, butternut squash for beta carotene and potential reduction of cardiac problems 9. Yogurt for calcium and protein 10. flax seed/flax seed oil, for omega 3, lignans - potentially protective against various cancers, fiber 11. water - we require drinking water or real fruit juice or milk with meals) This led to one of the patrols choosing to make sweet potato pie at camp - Youth rarely take "the easy way out" when given the opportunity to achieve something. I'm still waiting on meal plans from the other patrol - they are mostly the 5th graders - too funny, it's almost always the older ones who have a harder time getting things squared away and organized! Anyway, I'm pretty happy with how this worked - I'm going to try to remember more to just provide the good information I come across and provide opportunities to use it. Nutrition is definitely of huge importance - several of our girls are very very overweight (uniforms are not made in their size)and subsist on sodas and doritos and fast food most of the time. We are not Draconian about promoting good nutrition - in fact, they are happily surprised to enjoy eating chef salads, melon, and chicken - things they would ever have the opportunity to try otherwise. Anne in Mpls

LOL My house already smells like a bonfire from the 350 degree temp. Actually, wouldn't it smell *less* at a higher temp, due to more complete combustion?? Or I might just be wrong

Oh for Petes Sake. *Why* does everybody recommend 350?? Right. Third layer's gonna be a scorcher Thank you, Oren Anne in Mpls

Ah, yup... This is a brand new d.o. with not much seasoning built up on it yet. (I've baked on two layers of oil so far but it seems a tad "gummy" so I'm wondering if I had the temperature high enough. I might try a third layer at a higher temp and see if I get something that looks more "rightly" to me.) A couple sites recommend not cooking anything highly acidic or sugary until it's got a really good surface built up, so for this one we're using a separate pie pan. I know the pie crust itself would't be problematic, but there's more of a chance of sloshing the sweet potato sugary-ness onto the sides... My other thought was to skip the d.o. altogether, and just clip two pie pans together and dump coals over *that*. Maybe we'll try both ways and see which turns out better.. Anne in Mpls

Trevorum, I'm not really sure either but my guess is that the LDS Scouts would tend to only join LDS-sponsored packs and troops, so I'm wondering if the boys you have are Reorganized LDS, but you'd really need to speak to a church member to find out how that may or may notimpact their participation. Peace!

Thanks Oren Are you describing how to bake a pie directly in the d.o. without using a separate pie pan? And I agree with you on the recipe thing - we've got three families "field-testing" their family recipes to see how to simplify them for the trip ie: premixed dry ingredients and spices, sweet potatoes cooked ahead of time or canned, etc. We were thinking about using a pre-baked pie crust, but now I'm thinking that might not be wise... Next topic...my newly seasoned d.o. is sitting in the kitchen with a fresh thin coat of oil. I've heard it recommended that frying a batch of chicken is a good way to go to really get the d.o. seasoned nicely. Agree? Other tips? Thank you!!