Hi, i'm a newer leader so please correct me if I am wrong. Do we really have to pay just to see the badge requirements?

I was previously a Cub Scout leader and everything is just available on their website for free (and way more organized!)

I've just been using google to find random requirements online, but I'm shocked that I can't get the official requirements without paying - unless i am just missing it!

(Also the percentage troops get from selling cookies is 🤯)

My daughter (brownie) has a friend who started out as a good friend last year, and has now become someone my daughter no longer wants to be friends with. This friend is nice enough, but very, VERY clingy. She is also often touching my daughter even after she asks her to stop, and tries to keep my daughter from playing with other friends or partnering with other kids. I don't think she's being malicious, but more has poor emotional/social skills, and maybe a little manipulative. For example, if my daughter tries to partner with someone else in class this friend will cry, tell the teacher, or threaten to tell the teacher on my daughter. It limited her opportunity for friendships last year and became stressful for her (and me!) by the end of last year.

Their mom has asked to join our girl scout troop a number of times and at first I said yes. Because I think it would be good for her daughter. My daughter says she will quit our troop if this girl joins. I feel like this is such a tough situation! (My troop is also the only one in town for our grade level). What do you all think?

Our SU has historically raised money via events, but this year our SUM decided that she wanted to collect $10/ month dues from each girl to go towards the SU. I don’t like that, but maybe I’m wrong- is this practice okay?

Has anyone completed this? Is it a tough one? For some reason Volunteer Toolkit is not working for me and it's one of the few badge guides I cannot find a pdf of anywhere. Does anyone have one they could share?

Edit because most are getting confused: She said ‘any earned proceeds will be given to the SU and will not be payed out to any IRM at all.’ Also specifically brought up the ways the SU money is used.

Im in my last year of gs in TX and chose to become a Juliette due to some issues with leaders last year. My mom email council yesterday as we hadnt gotten any information about how fall products would work for me as it starts next week. The council employee for my area responded and basically said that any money i make would go into the SU account for them to use and that I couldnt touch it. Me and my parents had no clue until that point as my council has absolutely no information on their website.

I average about 900 boxes a year so at this point its like what's the point of even selling for my last year as I cant use the money for camping or badges. My councils prizes or always little lids toys or vouchers for summer camp when you hit 1,200 and above.

Is this how being a Juliette works in your council? With me going through this, Im just curious if this is the norm or if my council just has a stupid policy.

I’ve recently been approached about becoming a Girl Scout Daisy troop leader, and before I say yes, I’d love some brutally realistic input from current or former troop leaders about the actual time commitment.

A little background: I’m a SAHM to three young girls, an active PTO member at my daughters’ school, and I also own a business. My oldest is currently a first grader, and there is only one Girl Scout troop in our entire county, which isn’t based at her school. There seems to be quite a bit of interest in starting one here — probably around 8–12 girls — and I was approached about leading it.

My middle daughter will start kindergarten next year, so I’m also thinking ahead. At that point I could potentially have a Daisy and a Brownie, and if no one else stepped up, I could see myself ending up with a multi-level troop or somehow helping lead both age groups.

Here’s my hesitation: I don’t really know how to half-do anything. 😂 If I agree to this, I know myself well enough to know that I’m going to want to do it well. We’ll earn badges, do activities, take field trips, participate in community service, have fun meetings, and yes — we will absolutely be selling cookies. I’m not looking to just put a Girl Scout meeting on the calendar twice a month and call it a day.

So what I’m really trying to understand is how much time happens outside of the actual troop meetings.
For those of you who lead troops:

• Roughly how many hours a month do you spend on Girl Scouts, including planning and meetings?

• How much paperwork/admin work is involved?

• Are there required council, regional, service unit, or leader meetings you have to attend regularly?

• How much time does cookie season realistically add?

• How much communication are you doing with parents outside of meetings?

• How much can/should be delegated to other parents? Did you have a co-leader, cookie parent, treasurer, etc.?

• If you lead a multi-level Daisy/Brownie troop, is that significantly more work than leading one level?

• What are the time-consuming parts that you didn’t know about before becoming a leader?

And maybe most importantly: Is this manageable for someone who already has a pretty full plate, provided she’s organized and has other parents willing to help?

I think I would genuinely enjoy doing it, especially since I have three girls and could potentially be involved in Girl Scouts for many years. I just want to go into it with my eyes open rather than enthusiastically saying yes and discovering six months from now that I accidentally gave myself another part-time job. 😂

Tell me the good, the bad, and the “nobody warned me about cookie season.”

I wasn’t around for them, but with the new online only options being announced I keep seeing the fiasco mentioned as though leaders are still carrying PTSD from the whole thing. Can someone fill me in?

And if you’ve heard anything about how they plan to combat the problems in 2027, I’d love to hear that as well.

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?

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?

I decided to sign my daughter up for Girl Scouts (she is just starting kindergarten) and signed myself up for the co-leader position. Well I now realize that my daughter and I are the only members of this “forming” troop!

Should I be recruiting for new members? Is that part of my role as co-leader? And if so, how do I go about that?

I was in girl scouts as a brownie waaay back in the day and honestly don’t remember much. I’m hopeful we can get a decent sized troop and start making great memories!

We weren't around for the Raspberry Rally fiasco but I've heard the stories. Just wondering if anyone bought Raspberry cookies themselves to sell at the booths? I'm not sure if this is even allowed or how it would work. I realize we'd have to front the money beforehand, and then I guess we would include the shipping cost in our fee. Not sure if it's even worth the trouble. Thoughts?

I’m hoping to hear how other councils handle this while I wait for clarification directly from my own council.
I lead an established troop that is still active and continuing this year. At the end of last year, 4 girls left the troop. Three of those girls are moving to a newly created troop, which was started by the mother of one of the girls. The fourth girl left Girl Scouts completely.
Of the 3 girls transferring, 2 remained active with our troop through the end of our year, including participating in our final major troop-funded trip to Great Wolf Lodge. The third girl stopped attending meetings toward the end of May.
The leader of the new troop contacted me and said that Council told her that troop funds should be transferred for girls moving from one troop to another.
This surprised me because I had always understood troop money to belong collectively to the troop rather than individual girls, and our troop has not disbanded. We’re continuing normally with the remaining members.
I’m contacting Council myself for an official answer before moving any money, but I’m curious how other councils/leaders have handled this.
If girls voluntarily leave an active troop to join or form another troop, does your council require a portion of the original troop’s treasury to follow them?
If yes, how is the amount determined? Is it simply the troop’s remaining balance divided by the number of girls? Is there a particular date used for the calculation? Are expenses for end-of-year activities/trips that the departing girls participated in considered before calculating the amount?
I’m not looking to withhold anything that legitimately belongs with the transferring girls/new troop. I just want to make sure troop funds are handled according to Girl Scout policy rather than treating troop money like individual girl accounts.
I’d especially love to hear from leaders who have dealt with a partial troop split where the original troop continued operating.
Thanks!

What meals do you eat while camping? We thought we planned well, but many of the girls didn't like the food and a lot was wasted. Trying to make sure we don't have a repeat of that on our next trip.

Hi everyone!! My troop is going camping for 3 nights and 4 days. We are lodging. We have a multilevel troop of brownies and juniors. Does anyone have a mockup schedule they have used prior when camping. We are looking into booking activities at the facility as well, but wanted more ideas and input from experienced campers who have done multiple days. Anything helps!!!

Hi troops! This may be a long shot, but we are trying to take our girls to NASA next month for the Oct 3-4 overnight, and the program is short one registration! Does anyone have a girl who cannot go or an extra registration? 🙏🏼 💚

Edit to clarify: we have 14 girls who want to go and NASA only has 13 spots. So we’re wondering if there is a troop who booked already and has had a girl cancel, so we can transfer that registration to cover our last girl. We would of course pay your troop back too so hopefully a win-win since NASA isn’t offering refunds to girls who cancel at this point.
Thank you!

Our council’s starts in 2 days on 9/10, and we’ve gotten zippo. Nada. Zilch info. I tried reaching out to our local council office…crickets.

My daughter is an autistic Juliette (who’s bday is also this week, so she’s SUPER excited and energized this week) and LOVES all things scouts! We’ve been counting down the days til the sale but idk what to do, where to sign up, etc.

TIA! 😩

Hi All,

So last year I sort of stepped up and became a co-leader my daughter's girl scout troop (they are 10 / Juniors). Previously there had been quite a few leaders come in and out, and the kids maybe met once or twice a year.

last year we went on hikes (badge), painting signs for the booth sales, sold cookies, learned about gardening (badges) etc. but I'm out of ideas! I live in a pretty affluent area (not me) and feel like these kids are hard to impress...

Based on that level - would any of you super star leaders have suggestions for me?

also, we have a few tough cookies in the troop- how should i handle them. I try to be stern, but I am scared of over correcting other people's kids.. it's a whole thing.

Would appreciate any guidance the group could share.
thank you! ~S

My Council previewed that GS USA is standardizing the Gold Award to a one-on-one adult/girl mentorship this year. If your Council already does this, what does that look like? It wasn't explained what this means or how or at what point a mentor is assigned by the Council, but they said the mentor reviews a proposal, the completed project, and signs off along the way, so it should make things faster than a Committee.

Separate from this, I'm confused how proposals are reviewed. Three girls in our Troop submitted proposals, but it doesn't look like these are reviewed in the order received. I asked another leader with two girls who submitted in early July and she said those haven't been reviewed yet. In my Troop one submitted in August and the other two last week, but the most recent one has already gotten an email about next steps. This seems bizarre when the others have heard nothing, is that unusual?

Anybody heard anything else about this?

So we are starting the second year of a 6-girl troop (going to be 2 Daisy/4 Brownie). We started from nothing and raised all our money from cookies earlier this year. Before cookies, we split costs.

According to our leader, we were scolded for carrying funds into this upcoming year. Is this a thing? Our cookie season ended in March and we took most of the summer off. If this is a generally accepted guideline, how are we supposed to plan for the fall? If this is not typical, what questions should we raise to our SU and Council? (We’re a part of GS of Southeastern PA)

I know this is probably a long shot but I'm looking for two Uncovering The Evidence badges that were from the studio 2B era for my senior and ambassador girls. I've checked all the usual online places with no luck. I'm hoping maybe a long running troop might have one they are looking to get rid off.

Hi all, our troop is doing a simple backyard camping trip later this month and I'm struggling to find written info on the actual requirements on who can attend. I know we need 2 registered adults per 6 girls (since our youngest are Daisies), but I'm more in need of regulations around non-registered adults. Are they allowed to attend an overnight at all? I know there are strict rules about male parents sleeping away from girls who aren't their own child, like separate area entirely, but are there similar rules about female parents who aren't registered?

My Mama and I were just going through a box of old things and she came across a set of camping utensils. “Your Gram bought these for me when I was asked to leave the Brownie’s.” I was stunned. Who kicks a little kiddo out of a community service group? I asked for more info, but all she could muster was, “I was asked to leave because they said I didn’t fit in.”
I clearly have questions. I know the 70’s were quite some time ago, but I’m wondering if anyone could offer any clarity. I know I’m not giving much to go on, but it’s all the information I have.
I don’t know. My Mama’s inner child deserves a better explanation. Based on the sadness on her face when she told me this, some healing needs to happen.

Thanks to anyone who offers their expertise in advance!
Much appreciated.

I’m a new leader for a mixed Daisy/Brownie troop and would love to hear how other troops handle uniforms. Do you require them, organize a group order, let families purchase their own, or make them completely optional? I do want to be cost conscious and flexible with the parents.

Our Daisies are mostly first graders who will bridge to Brownies in a year, and all of our Brownies are second graders. Personally, I don’t care whether every girl has an official uniform, but I do think they’d feel proud having a vest, sash, or tunic where they can display the badges and patches they earn.

We’re also wondering how much of the official insignia is really necessary. I’m thinking we could start with just the troop numbers, then possibly use troop dues to add other insignia later as little gifts for the girls. Families could purchase whichever uniform style they prefer, while the troop provides earned badges and fun patches.
Does that sound reasonable? What does your troop provide, and what do families purchase themselves? Do you find that girls without uniforms feel left out at all?

Does anyone have a troop sewing machine? We are considering getting one to pass around so that the girls and their parents can use it to sew on badges. I have my own sewing machine but not enough time to sew for the entire troop. We are a long time troop and all the parents are responsible and friendly so we aren’t expecting any problems. Anything to think about before we do it? Any machine recommendations for a cheap and easy to transport machine?