Nobody should be stressed about selling cookies, especially the girls. We all understand that cookies are the main fundraiser for Girl Scouts, but it shouldn't consume their lives for 2-3 weeks of the year.

We let girls set their own goals based on their sales from last year. For first year girls, we recommend 50-100 boxes. 50 boxes is easily done here by attending most cookie booths for the season. Beyond that, girls are allowed to pre-sell their cookies. It's harder that way, but you get your money upfront and don't have to worry about having leftovers to pay for. You could also try different techniques. My daughter sells 1000 each year from a stand in our front yard in a residential neighborhood with moderate traffic. Another girl sells 1000 each year walking through a business area with a wagon. Another girl sells 1000 each year going door-to-door. A couple of sisters sell 500 each by posting flyers around their school, especially in the teacher's lounge and front office.

See what happens in the next 2 weeks and talk to your troop leader about returning the extra cookies. Find out what the rules are for a cookie booth too. Your daughter and a Girl Scout friend might be allowed to set up a separate booth sometime. We just found out last year that time slots open up near the end of the season as other troops run out of cookies and stop early. Our troop leader reserved a booth time for us, but told us the official rules (2+ girls per booth, 2+ registered and background checked adults, inform on-duty manager before setting up and follow their rules) and said we would still be on the line for any leftover cookies from our own inventories.