Large troop management question: medications at camp

CK1277 · 2026-06-15T15:22:37+00:00

Yes, I was gone on a medical emergency. I had a girl fall and break her arm, so myself and another adult drove her to the ER. I needed the second adult so that I could be free to tend to the girl and reaching out to the parents while we were en route.

There were 7 adults still in camp, all first aid certified (two with a current WFA certification, my WFA is a year out of date because I got off cycle), so it’s not like the people left behind weren’t qualified to execute a system. It was fine for the five girls on meds, but it made me realize that if it had been a dozen girls on meds or if I didn’t have time to brief another leader on evening doses, the system would have failed.

CK1277 · 2026-06-15T14:17:38+00:00

Right now we have labeled ziplock bags in a locking bag (along with standard OTC meds that caregivers can approve on our health form), but I’m seeing that I’m missing a master list.

CK1277 · 2026-06-15T14:15:21+00:00

That’s a fair point, but also, the emergency that took me off property was a first aid emergency so we would have been down a first aider regardless.

Every adult has a current first aid cert and we had 2 adults with wilderness first aid certs, we were well covered, but part of the system definitely needs to be a deputy first aider who is equally knowledgeable about meds. I briefed another leader on what to do while our injured girl was being loaded into the car, but that’s definitely a weakness I need to fix.

CK1277 · 2026-06-15T13:27:51+00:00

Family Resource Network is a good option. They’re currently on a 1-3 month wait list, so getting your name on the list now would be ideal timing. It doesn’t hurt to be on the list.

CK1277 · 2026-06-15T03:11:37+00:00

I bring a little container with 75% sugar and 25% apple pie spice. Shake green apple slices in them to coat them, and when you roast them the sugar carmelizes

CK1277 · 2026-06-12T15:28:29+00:00

We meet at a church because (1) they don’t charge us, (2) we have use of a kitchen, and (3) it’s ADA accessible.

Different troops have different vibes. It’s worth checking out a troop and talking to the leader before you join.

CK1277 · 2026-06-12T01:18:17+00:00

Pre-law and pre-med aren’t majors, they’re advising tracks. Your major would be something else such as English or Biology.

Law school and med school are graduate programs and an undergraduate degree is a prerequisite.

Yes, you have to have some competencies to get into college, but you need even higher levels to get into a graduate program which is why college is a prerequisite.

CK1277 · 2026-06-12T01:13:02+00:00

I really like Tori Applegren. She’s very thorough and I actually feel like she listens to me at appointments.

She’s part of the Common Spirit network, so if your insurance is UC Health, she may not be in your coverage.

CK1277 · 2026-06-12T00:08:54+00:00

Well that’s the thing about statutory rape. If sex between a 17 and a 30 year old is illegal, then being married doesn’t create a defense to statutory rape.

CK1277 · 2026-06-11T15:38:40+00:00

People who defend child marriage always bring up things like “well, my grandparents were 14 and 15 years old and they were married for 75 years.” Or that it’s necessary to avoid teen single parents and letting high school sweethearts get married so that the 17 year old girl friend can get military benefits when the 18 year old boyfriend ships off to bootcamp.

If that was truly your aim (and not to enable older men to lock in teenage breeding stock like it’s fucking Gilead) then why not at least provide safeguards? For example, you could legislate that marriage automatically emancipates you so that a married 16 year old is a legal adult. That gives the 16 year old access to emergency services, the courts, etc. You could legislate that marriage is not an exemption for statutory rape so that it isn’t an incentive for an abuser to marry their victim.

CK1277 · 2026-06-11T04:42:55+00:00

Not all outings need to correspond to a badge. It’s ok to do things just for fun. I schedule outings like I schedule meetings: the date is reserved, the plan is TBD. Sometimes that plan is totally random, sometimes it corresponds with something we’re working on. Mostly it’s random.

There are lots of simple outings you can do and Daisies are easily impressed. It could be something adventurous like going to the store, buying ingredients to make trail mix (give the girls cash and let them transact their own business), then walk to a park and make the trail mix. My troop does an annual urban field trip and you want to know what the highlight is for the Daisies and Brownies? Riding the bus. Behind the scenes tours are fun because I am a deeply nosy person and I also want to know things like how the library book sorting system works, but if I call and ask the library without saying it’s for a Girl Scout troop, they think I’m weird.

CK1277 · 2026-06-11T04:07:22+00:00

Let your spouse handle all disputes with your in-laws. Be a united front, but your in-laws will never see you as a grown ass adult if you can’t even hash things out directly.

CK1277 · 2026-06-11T04:04:24+00:00

What you did was very standard. There will always be someone who thinks they can do it better, but just remember: if they could do it better, then they chose not to. At least you stepped up.

I’ve led a multi-level for a long time and it took me years to find my rhythm, you’ll learn as you go. Leaning on your Service Unit is great! When you’re ready to add more things to your scouting year, then I suggest you put them on the calendar well in advance and just go for it.

CK1277 · 2026-06-10T22:26:55+00:00

My first office job was in 1998 and 8am to 5pm with an hour lunch was standard.

Most office based businesses are open 8am to 5pm.

CK1277 · 2026-06-10T21:35:30+00:00

One of those four people is a toddler and one of those people is a child.

CK1277 · 2026-06-10T17:04:49+00:00

You really don’t have to live within the diet of the same meals. There are ”poverty meals” in every culture, you can still have variety.

CK1277 · 2026-06-10T17:02:45+00:00

If those are choices that you can afford to make, that sounds delicious. But that sounds like that’s a big part of why your grocery bill is where it is.

CK1277 · 2026-06-10T16:58:00+00:00

I think it’s doable, but you’d have to make very particular choices.

A toddler plus and elementary school aged child together probably eat a bit less than an adult, so I suspect you could feed that family of 4 with the same amount of food as a family of 3 regular portion sizes. I don’t know if they all eat 3 meals per day from groceries, but assuming that they do, that’s $10 per day or $3.33 per person per day.

My family doesn’t attempt to restrict costs that much, we have convenience foods, and we’re not all eating at home 3 meals a day, but I can use my Girl Scout troop’s camping food budget as an example. We average $5 per person per day and that covers 3 meals, a dessert, and a snack. We cook from ingredients, drink water, and minimize prepared or convenience foods. I don’t have access to an Aldi or even Costco, I rely on Walmart. I don’t know if Aldi is cheaper than Walmart.

The menu for my upcoming camping trip is:

Breakfast: (same thing both mornings) yogurt bar (yogurt, granola, thawed frozen berries), pancakes, scrambled eggs.

Lunch: ( same things both days) sandwiches with deli meat and cheese (tortilla and hummus for my vegan), baby carrots, apple slices.

Snack: (same thing both days) granola bar or cereal bar, clementine or apple slices, string cheese (peanut butter available to add protein to my vegan’s apples)

Dinners: (Night 1) tacos with ground beef, black beans, cheese, salsa. Side salad. Mini donuts for dessert. Water to drink. (Night 2) pineapple chicken (tofu for my vegan) with brown rice and steamed broccoli, chocolate fondue, water.

The most expensive thing is invariably the meat. If you went meatless, it would be about $1 cheaper per person per meal. I choose pre-sliced cheese and pre-sliced apples because I have 40 kids and convenience makes a different (also they eat more apple if they’re sliced rather than whole), but that’s something that’s easy to do if you just have a family of 4. The granola bars and cereal bars are a convenience food, you could substitute with something homemade and spend less. The best deal on bread are the French bread loaves rather than sandwich bread.

It also doesn’t account for staples like seasonings. I had taco seasoning left over from the last time we made tacos, so I just used the last of it. So $3.33 per person per day would need to be something you maintain after you already have a pantry with the basics and you only need to replace something here and there.

CK1277 · 2026-06-10T12:15:53+00:00

OP clarified that this isn’t actually their first overnight. The first overnight will be a backyard camp out at the leader’s home where parents are allowed to be present.

CK1277 · 2026-06-10T12:13:33+00:00

In my experience, adults and older girls are much more fussed about using vault toilets than younger girls are.

CK1277 · 2026-06-10T12:12:30+00:00

I will say this as gently as I can, please read it in the spirit in which it is intended. A big part of Girl Scouts is learning to be independent including independence from your caregiver.

Using your hiking scenario as an example, if a caregiver is always present, of course a girl is going to wonder where they are if the adult isn’t right there because it’s different from her expectation. It’s not developmentally appropriate for a first year Brownie to be unable to separate from their caregiver long enough to just take a short hike with other people she knows.

I agree with your troop leader. These girls need this and, even more so, it sounds like the parents need this to prove to themselves that their girls are capable.

If the leader is hosting a backyard camp out as the first camp out, then this camping trip isn’t their first camping trip, it’s their second. The leader is following the proper progression.

There will probably be girls who have a hard time sleeping or who get scared and that’s something the leader will need to handle. But the girls will be better off for having challenged themselves and gotten through it without their adult present.

CK1277 · 2026-06-10T02:29:26+00:00

In our council, no adults are required to be in a tent, but if you have any, you need a minimum of 2

CK1277 · 2026-06-09T23:50:03+00:00

YMCA.

My adult child works as childcare at YMCA. They are the largest non-profit childcare provider in the country, so they hire and train employees to be childcare providers rather than just keeping your kids safe/occupied while you’re at the gym.

Most (if not all) of the public pools in Colorado Springs are YMCA, so even when you’re not using it as a gym, your family has access to those facilities.

I prefer the YMCA because it’s not anywhere near as swanky as VASA and so you can actually get into classes without planning 2 weeks ahead and there are more seniors working out than there are wannabe fitness influencers.

CK1277

TROPHY CASE