It is Girl Scout cookie time! I think it is the most yummy time of the year. Which are your favorite? Mine favorites are Thin Mints (in the freezer!) and Savannah Smiles (which are not sold nationwide).
I am super excited that the opportunity to write a paid post on behalf of Girl Scouts USA about Girl Scout Cookie Weekend came about as part of my participation in the Mom It Forward Blogger Network! You know I love writing about our Girl Scout adventures and activities….now I get to tell you more about what we have learned through selling cookies. Of course even though I’m being paid, it is all our stories and our opinions.
Did you know that when you buy Girl Scout cookies you are helping the largest girl-led business? That girl-led business has been going on for almost 100 years now! That’s some staying power.
I was a Girl Scout myself. I LOVED cookie time. I loved going out and selling the cookies. I knew which houses were the big buyers in my neighborhood (or city block as it were because I covered the whole thing)! I knew which houses to head for as soon as I got that order form. I was usually the top seller in my troop. As a kid, I didn’t really know or put the pieces together that my selling the cookies was really important to our troop. I didn’t put together that we needed that money to help keep dues low and to go on some of the great trips we went on. I just knew I loved being in business. I knew I had a goal and I learned how to work it so that I hit my goal. I felt so adult, in charge, and successful. Even to this day I have fantastic memories of Girl Scout cookie time. I see now as an adult that I learned so many valuable lessons that I didn’t even realize I was learning.
It is so interesting to have the tables turned now and to watch both my girls as Girl Scouts. You can see so much in them and their personalities when it comes to cookie time and Girl Scouts in general.
My oldest daughter was so sad the first year she was a Daisy. At that time our council didn’t allow Daisy’s to sell cookies. Thank goodness the second year, they allowed Daisy’s to sell and sell she did! She and my husband went to every door in our neighborhood. She used to say, “Want to buy some cookies because I’m a Girl Scout?” Try as I might to coach her to say something more polished or that made a bit more sense, that is what she would say. Now as a Cadette, she isn’t quite as eager to go sell cookies, but she is so much more polished. She knows the prices and quickly multiplies to be able to tell someone what their order will cost or figure out their change. She readily coaches her little sister as to what she should say and do. I can see in her that she has grown in confidence in her ability to talk with others as well as to set a goal and work to achieve it.
I’m so proud of her because she has often said that she wants to accomplish this or that in Girl Scouts but has often lacked the follow through to complete the tasks. I sat back waiting, knowing that the motivation needed to come from within her, not me prodding her to get it done. In the last year, I have seen that motivation take hold in her with Girl Scouts in a way that I didn’t know was possible. I LOVE seeing my daughter blossom into a young woman in whom I can see leadership skills being built and an attitude of willingness to take on a project and carry it out to completion. Those are lifelong skills that she will be so glad she has gained and she will, in part, have Girl Scouts to thank for that.
My youngest daughter is a second year Daisy. This is her second year to officially sell cookies, but as our troop leader says, she has been a mascot for many years. She has really been out selling cookies with her sister and her dad (or at a cookie booth) for almost as many years as Snowflake, my older daughter. She loves it! She loves that now she gets to go out and sell cookies and partake in the ‘reward’ portion of selling cookies, such as a trip to Build-A-Bear or out for frozen yogurt. It will be fun to see how she grows in her journey throughout Girl Scouts. She has already decided to complete several Brownie Try-its (Badges) on her own as she wants to do more. I think she may be a force to be reckoned with as she gets older because when she sets her mind to something the world just needs to watch out!
I have been amazed and proud to see Pumpkin with other girls in the Girl Scout troop. She is so caring. She is always looking out for all the girls and making sure that they are included. She is willing to help almost any time and she constantly amazes me at what she is willing to do and give a try! Many times I have to just step aside and let her go for it because even though it may be something I think she is too young to do, she is fully capable. I don’t want to hold her back and Girl Scouts has given her that place to try things with other adults that Mommy cringes at letting her do. Thank you fellow leaders for giving her that place and space and holding my hand while I bite my lip and let her go.
The Girl Scout Organization has enriched my life. It has enriched my daughters lives. It has been such an incredible part of my relationship with my own daughters. We have bonded over bugs (and our being creeped out by them) on camping trips. I have seen my girls grow, change and blossom in front of my eyes in ways I would not have seen had we not been involved in Girl Scouts. Thank goodness our troop keeps our dues very low because with two girls it could add up quickly. Our troop is able to keep our dues low, in part, because of our cookie sales. I bet you didn’t know that when you buy that delicious box of Girl Scout cookies, you could have such a great impact on a mom and her two daughters. Guess what? You do! I’m also quite certain that there are many even more powerful stories than mine that come from buying cookies. So, let me just take a minute to say: THANK YOU! I appreciate it and I know my girls and thousands more appreciate it as well.
If you want more cookie fun, the Girl Scouts are kicking off Cookie Time with National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend! Yum! (and FUN!) They are having a green carpet premier in New York City on February 7th. I wish I could go! That would be so fun.
As part of National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend you can join a virtual Cookie Party and win a year’s supply of your favorite cookie! You can get more information about that on the Girl Scout Cookie Page. You can also download the cookie finder app, so you won’t have to go without next time you have a craving! 🙂
For even more fun, you can connect with Girl Scouts via Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
What a fun article! Yay!! Hope y’all sell lots of cookies!! We’ll out in the neighborhood today and at a booth tomorrow 🙂
Thanks, Kristine! We’ve been working on it. Can’t believe you already have cookies in and are having a booth. We just put in our initial orders. Glad it warmed up for your booth. Hope it goes well!
KC
Your are so cute. I wished you lived in my city. I was a Girl Scout when I was young and so was my daughter. Somewhere I have a picture that looks just like the one of you as a Scout.
I can’t wait to get my cookies. Happy Cookie Selling you to and your girls.
Traci
Thanks, Traci! 🙂 It would be fun to see the picture of you as a Scout! I can’t wait to get cookies as well…yum, yum!
KC
How fun–I loved the pictures! I enjoyed selling cookies as a brownie. And now, I sneak a few thin mints every year. (I try very hard to eat gluten free, but I find thin mints especially hard not to sneak.)
Thanks, Pam! Sneaking a few Thin Mints is a necessity, IMO! Did you know that this year they have gluten free cookies? It depends on where you live as to which bakery supplies your area, but a big part of the country has a gluten free GS cookie! Yay! Hope you can find them.
KC