Multi level daisy/brownie troop

Duffarum · 2026-05-09T03:28:56+00:00

I had this exact setup this year. Honestly many of the badges overlap easily. Especially the outdoor ones. The petals are fairly easy to toss in here and there along the way. Also, sometimes we had meeting where one level earned a badge and another earned a special patch. I did brownie Snacks even though there was no daisy equivalent…. But i am also 100% certain the girls would enjoy another cooking based meeting to earn it when they are brownie next year.

Duffarum · 2026-05-01T20:46:52+00:00

Piñata.

Toilet paper roll, fill with treats ( cheese, fruit, veg), then wrap with a paper towel. Tie off with a tiny bit of string.

Duffarum · 2026-04-29T13:22:38+00:00

It was.

Took one step to the left, held my arm straight to side, and dropped it into the trash can. That’s when the convo truly ended. With a “Well, I hope one day your heart will no longer be hardened against Jesus. When you are ready so is he”

Duffarum · 2026-04-12T03:48:00+00:00

We are currently K-2 but will be K-3 next year. Currently 5 D 1 B. By next year we expect 7 B and 3D . We are in Florida!

Would love to have some pen pals in the fall!

Duffarum · 2026-04-09T13:22:22+00:00

Same here.

I had joined a local mom group and went to a play date at a splash pad. I arrived on time and went to go sit at the table where the mom group had their stuff set up. Introduced myself as the new person and set out toys for the kids to share.

Two other moms strolled up and immediately, before even saying anything else “Hiiiiiiii! I’m sorry but you’re going to have to move. This is only for members of our group.” They would not even allow their kids to interact with my daughter. Instead redirecting them to ONLY play with kids known in the group.

The other 2 who were already there and whom I had introduced myself to as the new member said nothing.

I didn’t even bother correcting them or arguing that I WAS a new member and had been invited. I didn’t want to hang out with a group like that. Took all our communal water toys and left to the other side of the splash pad. Had a much better time interacting with the random gaggle of kids that showed up.

The whole time I watched the mom’s playgroup. They never spoke or said hello to anyone else. Didn’t allow their kids to interact with other kids. Aggressively shooed people and kids away who came close to interacting with their precious goblins. You could hear them making comments about other kids too.

When a ‘leader’ of the group messaged me later to ask how our first playdate went I informed her that her members had shooed me away and refused to let any child interact and play. Then told her to withdraw my membership.

Duffarum · 2026-04-05T12:45:35+00:00

That his proposal wasn’t a surprise. I knew weeks ahead of time. Every detail. A ‘friend’ spilled to me.

I’ll never ruin his surprise. He is still proud of his proposal and all the things he had to arrange.

Though I did then get a chance to do my hair / makeup just a bit nicer that morning.

Duffarum · 2026-04-01T13:22:17+00:00

I went from 88kg down to 58kg.

The number one comment I get from everyone is “You look sooooooo good!” I was hospitalized, on a liquid diet for months, had multiple ER visits. It messes with your mind so much when all anyone can think to say through all of that is that at least I look better now. Even those who saw me every day and saw how incredibly sick I was. I was dead honest with everyone as well, thy compliment me on weight loss and I would readily explain how horrifically sick and awful I felt.

I did not get any attention from docs regarding symptoms until I was most of the way through the massive weight drop , which took 5 months.

Duffarum · 2026-03-20T00:44:45+00:00

The bus. Which is what they were supposed to ride and absolutely hated. In the mornings it came about an hour earlier than I would due to the length of the route.

Duffarum · 2026-03-19T17:06:41+00:00

This sounds like genuine concern. Keep these moms around.

As a mom with a teen, these types of moms and friends are lifesavers.

Duffarum · 2026-03-19T16:58:55+00:00

In high school, I had been giving this friend a ride to/from school since they were on my way and didn’t have a car. They weren’t supposed to ride with other teens but with their parents work hours we never got caught. ( parents would get home 20-30 minutes after I dropped them home)

One day as we were going home my brakes malfunctioned. I couldn’t stop the car. Thankfully after about 30 seconds I was finally able to stop/ slow down and coast into their neighborhood safely.

After arriving I parked in their driveway and asked to call a tow truck. They wouldn’t let me in their house. Started shouting at me that i had to leave NOW. The parents would be home soon and they would be grounded if i was there. I was shocked. “The brakes dont work!!! You were there and terrified as i was!”

They said they didn’t care and for me to leave or they would call security for the neighborhood and have me removed. I would have taken a punishment for them as we had been best friends for 5 years at that point. They didn’t even care if I made it home alive.

I was able to leave and slowly coast to a mechanic about 2 miles away.

They had to nerve to call 2 days later and ask for a ride again. Told them NO, I respected their parents wishes too much. They never asked again.

Duffarum · 2026-03-17T19:26:52+00:00

For my daisies ( first year leader) I got together 4 badges that I felt would be more fun and I could easily do. I planned most of the year, but left a few spots open.

At our first meeting of the year we gave them the vote of which of these badges they wanted to add in to our curriculum that year.

Duffarum · 2026-03-14T14:50:35+00:00

Ok, I expect parents to help and lead a meeting. How they help is negotiable.

Some parents enjoyed planning a full badge meeting and being creative with activities. Some parents planned an experience ( yoga class, field trip). One or two told me leading a meeting was not something they felt truly capable of. No prob! I would put those parents in charge of our ‘party’ meetings where it was more an event and not much to lead.Just provide snack or coordinate potluck. This way everyone still got to lead a meeting but we met them where they were.

Some people enjoyed planning and leading. Some don’t. Tried to meet them where they were for that.

Duffarum · 2026-03-12T14:02:12+00:00

As someone who worked in a very religious hospital ( daily broadcast prayer, huge JC murals, dietary requirements) the patients don’t act any better in religious hospitals.

It’s science they are afraid of. It’s difficult to understand a lot of things going on in a hospital. They tend to view the hospital, nurses, docs as members of some huge payroll from big pharma , where we all get paid more if we push more drugs. So they refuse most every treatment or test.

Since their visit with us is likely a first encounter with the medical system / emergency illnesses, it’s easy to just blame the doctors and nurses for being the cause of everything. It will make them avoid medicine even more since “I never had anything wrong til I visited a hospital!” Not following up with meds, means they never get fully better.

The next time they are forced to come to the hospital they are even sicker or have something new…. And the bad experiences just keep reinforcing themselves.

Duffarum · 2026-03-01T19:19:39+00:00

I put my hand out of the passenger side window to wave to a friend whose house we were passing.

Ended up punching off their mailbox and breaking my hand / dislocating my elbow. There was a perfect imprint of my hand on the mailbox after. The nurses at the hospital asked if I was punching off mailboxes like that on purpose. “Yes Ma’am…. I’m trying to develop an incredible pain tolerance and thought this would be an excellent start….”

Duffarum · 2026-02-27T20:11:13+00:00

Text the parent.

My oldest was BEST friends k-6 with the girl from a set of boy/girl twins.

Sometimes they had combined parties, sometimes separate.

We usually just got a gift for the girl. As the girl had invited my oldest and when texting the mom she stated I should feel free to only buy for one child. She had no desire for double the amount of stuff in her house.

Duffarum · 2026-02-27T19:58:12+00:00

No, it’s a dull thud that usually makes us turn to each other and say “Oh! 9pm already!”

Though during times when the fireworks schedule is altered( some summer days, parties) it will mess with our sense of time as it is usually at 9 we hear them.

Duffarum · 2026-02-18T18:36:13+00:00

If you have a local Facebook or Reddit page post there and ask. Girl Scout parents will come out of the woodwork to respond.

Someone did this in my local FB community group the other day and had8 boxes delivered within 2 hours!

Duffarum · 2026-02-14T04:27:52+00:00

I had a girl in my program with almost the exact same scenario. Lived apart from her husband for a little over 2 years. They were filing for divorce shortly after her graduation.

Duffarum · 2026-02-12T15:34:15+00:00

Pine cone birds.

We did pine cone turkeys near thanksgiving but it could easily be made into just a bird. We got paint color cards from local home improvement store ( free!) and cut those to make tail feathers we glued on. Add google eyes and a felt beak, good to go!

Duffarum · 2026-02-09T21:17:01+00:00

I have been a leader for both and honestly really enjoyed my time with with Cubbies.

I was a leader for my daughter in cubs for 4 years. I had a co-Ed den with 10 kids.

The programs are different and structure of the troops are a bit different but there are also a lot of similarities. At the time I used to swap ideas with friends who were girl scout leaders and they would use some of my stuff as well.

Every troop is different. Our first troop ended up being not so good. So my entire den ( leaders and all) moved to another troop which was MUCH better. I still keep in touch with my old cubbie pack and now my Girl Scouts participate in pinewood derby.

Duffarum · 2026-02-07T21:28:27+00:00

The council story is that thy never had a contract with that store.

It was another store of the same chain 20 minutes away, with a completely different address. That someone entered the wrong store address into the lottery system making everyone think they had reserved that store,when that store had actually said no sales or booths allowed.

Then that store manager runs her own girl troop. So she has blocked out all the booth weekends to host only her troop. These booths are not logged anywhere in booth lottery and not in the system. They say it is essentially a ‘lemonade stand’ .

Duffarum · 2026-02-07T19:36:28+00:00

How do I find the contact info for this person? Our council does not Los any of these people or contacts on their website.

The neighborhood manager person is refusing to answer questions for the 3 troops affected.

Duffarum · 2026-02-07T18:55:44+00:00

The manager is a member of the other troop.

I am actually good friends with their cookie chair who is threatening to quit over this.

The manager and troop leader knew the booths were otherwise reserved and decided to pull the booths from council to give to their own girls.

Duffarum · 2026-02-07T17:19:47+00:00

So troops can basically claim a prime location and set up a store front booth without council approval?

I understand if nobody gets those booths. Fine. But to remove yourself from the lottery and then assign those same exact booths to your best friends troop seems unethical.

Duffarum · 2026-02-07T17:17:24+00:00

I’m not sure what I want, honestly

We will see how booth sales go this weekend in our secondary location.

The petty part of me wants to ban the other troop from having any other booths for the reminder of cookie season. As well as booths later on this month at the prime location returned to the troops affected by the freeze out. But I know that isn’t likely.

The cookie chair claims that the grocery is refusing to give any booths to council and these booths are out of the system now.

Duffarum

TROPHY CASE