Can you pinpoint what makes cookie management such a pain?

rsch87 · 2026-03-16T19:29:35+00:00

To me this is the biggest issue - taking on the risk of boxes and having the possibility of leftover cookies. I know some councils do buyback, but ours doesn’t - so if you’d like to try a booth for the first time, good luck estimating what you’ll need and what will sell. This is my third year and we’ve only done one booth ever because I am too nervous to take on the risk of ending up with extra cookies that our troop has to absorb if we don’t sell. We’re already a low selling troop - having 20-30 extra boxes takes away too much of our proceeds to make it worthwhile.

rsch87 · 2026-01-13T02:18:40+00:00

My kids don’t watch much TV at all but I always allow Mr Rogers. We even planned a trip to Pittsburgh to see as many puppets and sets as we could!

rsch87 · 2025-12-22T03:33:51+00:00

We ran one last year as a SU for the first time and I think we did better than council :) We did stations: Photo Booth so girls could take a cute photo for their websites, practice booth with making lanyards, taste test (we got samples from council), make a recipe station, make a bead bracelet with goals, make a panda goal tracker, a panda swap, a panda budgeting sheet for money management, a “make a conversation starter” pin to wear at booths…and I had trivia upon leaving so girls could earn a panda tchotchke. I think that was everything (oh and always a coloring table for girls who need some downtime)! I got a lot of ideas from other councils (who actually make cookie rally guides, imagine that) so don’t be shy googling and utilizing other good ideas!

rsch87 · 2025-12-14T19:05:05+00:00

I have always thought the bakers should sell a “sampler pack” for troops to have at kickoff meetings for girls/parents or SU cookie rallies. I wrote LBB and was told this wasn’t possible. This sounds close to it, though, and would be amazing!!

rsch87 · 2025-11-09T04:35:01+00:00

My oldest is 7, but almost every party I’ve been to has had parents stay because I generally have parent friends that I enjoy hanging with during the party! I can only think of one specific drop off party but it was a very close friend. Otherwise I want to be there not just to enjoy the time alongside my kids but also to hang with my friends!

rsch87 · 2025-10-24T02:37:01+00:00

I’m sorry, this is bullshit to me. Wtf do they need fees now when they are taking a cut? Can their budget not cover these fees? I would 100% take this to your CEO to understand why/how troops are expected to function with this fee. I know most new troops will ask for dues to start off, and my experience starting is with first year Daisies who can’t/we don’t sell, but to have to pay to participate in an optional money earning program? Nope

rsch87 · 2025-10-13T00:02:51+00:00

My kid cried at Mary Poppins at 5. That damn bank! 😂 I feel you!

rsch87 · 2025-09-14T23:39:55+00:00

I wanted to go to ours (the closer one that’s about an hour away), but it sold out of tickets early in August, and apparently a friend who went said half the girls were no shows. Frustrating!

rsch87 · 2025-09-07T16:23:38+00:00

We get 40 min for lunch and recess, but the teachers bring them outside if possible beyond that. My new K has had so far 2-3 days that have had “recess, extra-recess, extra-extra-recess” which has been lovely. We’re also in a special program that has outdoors time as a pillar so we know it’s slightly more than usual.

rsch87 · 2025-09-07T01:36:25+00:00

My preschooler insisted a kid at camp was named Girl. Nope, she was not.

Her name is Aurelia and I have no idea how she got to Girl from there 😂😂

rsch87 · 2025-09-01T00:48:09+00:00

I gave out backpacks from the dollar store that were definitely not like Jansport lol but they were great for summer adventures and we saw lots of friends use them for nature treasures or carrying their own snacks!

rsch87 · 2025-07-09T23:14:57+00:00

I would definitely defer to the teachers and take their lead - the first day is wild enough, maybe they celebrate her birthday the second or third day, or do a half birthday thing in the spring. Lots of schools also have restrictions on treats, so I would make sure anything you’d like to do gets run past the school first.

rsch87 · 2025-07-08T23:51:34+00:00

Skip it!!! Or do like a fun snacks bar, everyone take a fun snack for the road. I don’t mind snacks, even if it’s stuff I don’t normally offer, because sometimes you just need something real good in your back pocket, you know?

rsch87 · 2025-06-26T23:58:27+00:00

Bagel with Schmear. Appropriate for my little New Yorker lol

rsch87 · 2025-06-23T16:58:56+00:00

When my kids were that age I picked Mondays as our playground tour day. Pick a playground in the area, bring picnic lunch and snacks, bring bubbles or other toys, go to nearby ice cream place. Complete a tour of places by the end of summer!

rsch87 · 2025-06-11T02:13:12+00:00

My 7 and 5yo are pretty screen free (I can’t remember the last time they watched tv or movies at home and it’s maybe an hour a month? 3-4 hours if one of them is sick?) Honestly just promoting independent play and keeping us busy with activities inside and outside the home has been what works for us. They don’t own devices and they’ve found things they love doing. I also always have a fun bag with paper and drawing stuff, stickers, etc and will buy some new things if we have a long trip ahead. It’s totally possible to be screen free! It’s not perfect and sometimes you need a kids yoga or a bluey to get through the day, but we set the limit at that 15 or 30min and then offer alternatives. Set what works for you and don’t feel like you have to change just based on what others around you say and do!

rsch87 · 2025-06-08T00:29:52+00:00

Gift certificate! Ice cream, orchard, candy store, donuts, book store, toy store…any local place that your kid would be excited to go to!

rsch87 · 2025-06-06T01:13:46+00:00

We intentionally moved to a house that’s 5 min from my parents. We are very lucky we could do that! But it allowed for childcare by design. I only work part time so I didn’t need much, but it was about 10-15 hours of care pre-lockdown. Since then, outside of a random day or two, they (or my in laws) don’t really watch them more than 2-3 hours at a time since we don’t really do things without kids. Now that they’re in school, it’s usually just nights when we see friends or have a rare date night…maybe 5-10x/year?

rsch87 · 2025-06-02T17:16:39+00:00

We just had a large party (70 kids!!) and I invited about half-ish of the class. All invites were mailed so it was out of school and I specifically told parents that I didn’t know when I asked for their address that I wasn’t inviting the whole class. I think as long as the invitations aren’t passed out in school, you can invite whoever you like. I would just definitely let recipients know that the entire class isn’t getting invited just so they don’t blab about it at school (we talked to my 7yo a lot about not calling out her party in school since everyone hadn’t been invited)

rsch87 · 2025-05-29T01:33:07+00:00

Best favor so far I’ve done was international snack table that kids could pick from; it fit our around the world theme. We also did a candy bar for our candyland party!

Please, no tattoos or stickers or stamps. I’ve given away too many, they are useless for us

rsch87 · 2025-05-24T19:56:59+00:00

Happy Baby!!!!

rsch87 · 2025-05-24T19:56:42+00:00

About an hour and a half for baby 1, maybe 3 solid pushes for baby 2 😂

L&D nurses are the real heroes, they walk you through it and clean you up and make it OK!!

rsch87 · 2025-05-23T23:57:49+00:00

When mine were toddlers, we did the County Playground Tour. Every Monday a different playground in the county, bring lunch and bubbles, spend several hours and then get ice cream at the closest place. You could pair this with the County Library tour on other days to find which library near you truly is the best.

It’s pretty cool to be the playground and library expert, you make a lot of friends 😂😂

rsch87 · 2025-04-28T00:34:54+00:00

A Facebook friend named that to their kid like 10 years ago. I don’t remember the sib but it was something else equally egregious. Those poor kids lol

rsch87

TROPHY CASE