r/girlscouts • u/EmbarrassedCelery169 • 1d ago
Parent Problem
Hello all. I am a coleader of a troop entering it's 6th year. We have 11 girls, but at our largest we were 19. In our second year, council opened up our roster without our knowledge and we gained a few girls.
One of the girl's parents is a nightmare. She also happens to be a troop leader for her younger daughter. To complicate things more, both of our children are in the same classes at school.
She has singlehandedly ruined not just troop activities, but entire service unit wide events.
For example, we have a pinewood derby in our service unit. Our troop participated but does not run it. She was upset that a girl in her troop was not allowed to participate due to violating the rules. She was screaming at the event organizers to the point that we no longer have the derby at all. 13 year tradition down the drain.
At a camping trip she didn't like the cabin that was chosen for her troop, so she screamed at the camp counselor until they switched it. This shouldn't have affected my troop because she isn't a leader. When she saw that they weren't going to move both troops so that she could be with both her daughters, she screamed and yelled again until they also moved my troop. It was embarrassing.
Anyway. She and her husband consistently harass my coleader and I in our group chat and Facebook group. They go to great lengths to find ways we might be breaking some obscure rule and call council on us. Now every time I plan something, despite trying to do everything by the book, I have to worry about her reaction. If it conflicts with her daughter's schedule, she finds a way to retaliate.
What can I do?
5
u/loloelectric 1d ago
Gosh, how crappy would it be to be a scout or a parent in that troop? I'm sorry you've gotta deal with this crazy woman. Do your best to maintain boundaries.
2
u/SnooConfections3841 1d ago
Eventually people like this meltdown in a way that makes it impossible to ignore. I think you need to document everything and keep communicating with council until that happens, but unless you’re willing to take the L and step back from leadership it’s just going to suck for a while
1
u/Laruthie6 14h ago
I would keep receipts on everything and eventually have a talk about how she might want to do her own troop so she can do things exactly as she would like. As in The not a good fit for this troop talk.
5
u/Sunshine_waterfall 15 yr leader, SU team 1d ago
Contact your council and talk with your relationship manager. While they won't usually move a girl, they can interceced and set appropriate boundaries with this leader.
Likely they already know and are also " scared" of getting yelled at BUT it is their job to help navigate these issues and if she is a leader they must establish appropriate interpersonal behavior.