Girl Scouts Vs. Boy Scouts

The Womanly Art of Leatherworking

Some of you may have heard the news that the Boy Scouts are now letting girls join. I really don't have an issue with this, it's up to the girl what organization she wants to join, since Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts aren't the only options.

What I have an issue with is the bad rap Girl Scouts gets from some people. I made the mistake of reading the comments on the post about this that was on the Boy Scouts Facebook page. Apparently, according to some people, Girl Scouts is about arts, crafts, learning how to be a housewife, and nothing outdoors. Which is so not true, at least for the troop that I'm a part of.

Emily has been a Girl Scout for three years now. We've gone camping every year (sometimes several times a year), we learn outdoor activities, hiking is a big thing in our troop and we are gearing up to do some awesome STEM stuff. In fact, our Juniors were making little robots last meeting.

Admittedly, our troop is awesome and yes, as a leader, I'm biased. But Girl Scouts is all about being girl led. Our girls have a say in what we do each year and what badges they want to earn. Our Brownies are working on their First Aid badge right now.

Yes, some troops may be more arts and crafts than outdoors. And if you don't like your local troop, join Boy Scouts or Campfire, or any other similar organization. And you can also start your own troop. Ours is only 4 years old.

Scouting is fun for both boys and girls. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts both have advantages and flaws, but if you find a good troop it can be life changing!

Camping with the Girl Scouts!

Hiking!

When Emily joined Girl Scouts at the beginning of the year, she was looking forward to two things the most. The first was getting badges, which she has gotten quite a few. And the other was to go camping.

Her troop was suppose to go camping in January but the weekend it was planned we had a really bad snowstorm. So it got postponed until this past weekend.

We got up early Saturday morning to make the trek to the campground. One of the girl scouts' dads works for the Boy Scouts and he has been rehabbing / building a boy scout camp so we went camping there.

The drive took nearly two hours, and we drove right up a mountain to get to the camp. After parking, hauling our stuff to the cabin and eating lunch, the fun began. The Boy Scouts did a flag ceremony where they raised the American flag and then the camp's flag. After we did the pledge of allegiance and the scouts did their pledges/promise we went our separate ways.

The girls and the parents (one of whom is our Daisy troop leader) headed off to hike on a trail that no-one has ever hiked before. I didn't make it very far before I realized that it was not a good idea for me to try to do this hike. I headed back to the cabin and read a book while they were hiking.

Once they got back, we all headed back to the beginning of the trail. Since this camp is a work in progress, our troop decided to do a service project. What we did was start to clear a path to making the hiking trail easier to hike.

The girls raked and hoed at the trail and got a decent way. Then they waked the part that they had cleared to pat it down. They were very proud of the work they did and they'll get an extra special patch for being some of the first people to do service projects to fix up the camp.

We had a few hours before the Boy Scouts were going to serve supper so the girls worked on their

Marshmallows!

skit and their song for the campfire. That didn't take too long so most of the parents relaxed in the cabin while the kids played right outside.

Supper was at 6 pm. We had spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. All that playing and hiking must have made Emily hungry because she ate a full plate of spaghetti and even had seconds. After everyone had their fill, we headed to the huge firepit. There was skits and songs, which was very fun. After it started to get dark, it was time to roast marshmallows!

The cabin we were staying in were not heated so several people had brought space heaters because it was pretty cold on Saturday. On our side of the cabin, we actually had two plugged in. We had a bit of excitement when all the lights went out on our side. Thankfully it was an easy fix and the girls passed out.

I didn't sleep great but I didn't really expect to. Emily slept all night but she was still tired in the morning. It was our turn to make breakfast so we headed to the main cabin to start cooking. I made up the scrambled eggs, the girls made the toast and there was also pancakes and sausage. It was very good!

After that, we had a short chapel service. Emily and the other girls didn't have a lot of patience to sit there. They said they wanted to play but I could tell Emily was running out of steam. I was also running out of steam so after chapel, it was time to pack up and get out of there. Emily slept about the whole way home and then took a four hour nap with me after we got home.

It was pretty cold on Saturday but there was a lot of fun had. I know that Emily had a great time and is looking forward to when she can go camping again!

A Sister to Every Girl Scout

Early in the the school year, Emily came home all excited. The local Girl Scout troop had come to her school and she really wanted to join. We all went to the informational meeting that happened and signed her up.

I was a Girl Scout briefly - I don't remember why I stopped and became a Camp Fire Girl instead. But there is a lot of similarities I'm seeing between Camp Fire and Girl Scouts. Lots of crafts, fun with friends, earning patches and camping.

Emily was very excited to start attending as well as to get her own vest and patches. She is a Daisy right now and part of what they are learning in the whole Girl Scout code. They get a petal for each one they learn.

One of the last ones is 'Be a sister to every Girl Scout'. Emily loves her fellow Girl Scouts and I think it's a really great idea. It's a community of girls, their siblings and their parents. Community and friendship is something that can last a lifetime!

I don't know how long Emily will want to be a Girl Scout, but she's learning a lot of good skills, making friends and getting great opportunities. This Saturday, she'll be marching with her troop in the Fletcher Christmas Parade. Next month, it will be her first camping trip, which she is very excited for.

One of the best things about our troops (and others, I have no idea) is that the leader ask for the girls' feedback on what they want to do. It's all about them growing and learning.

I'd highly recommend Girl Scouts to any girl. They form bonds and have fun while learning!

Camp Fire Girls

Emily wearing my Camp Fire vest

A few days ago a high school friend posted that her mom had passed away. I was a little startled and sad to see that I knew her mom. She had been my leader when I was in Camp Fire Girls and it brought back a lot of memories.

I joined Camp Fire Girls in elementary school. I had briefly been a Girl Scout but my parents switched me to Camp Fire for some reason. I really loved everything about Camp Fire. I learned all kinds of crafty things, made friends and got to go on camping trips.

Every summer, I'd go to day camp for a week and have an overnight stay at the end of the week. We'd cook out over fires and make crafts. I remember one year I made a really ugly clown doll that I named Fred. I still have him - he's in Emily's room in her sea of stuffed animals.

Like Girl Scouts sell cookies, we sold chocolate bars. I'm not a great salesperson even back then so I was never a top seller. But one year I really wanted to go to the special weekend camp out for the top sellers. My mom drove me all around town to sell in different neighborhoods. I still remember one of the streets was Elm Street. I got to my goal and got to go on the special camping trip - it was a lot of fun.

I loved Camp Fire so much that I stuck with it until my freshman year of high school. The only reason I stopped was because I wanted to do the school plays which had rehearsals that conflicted with the Camp Fire meetings.

I have a lot of fond memories and I'm a little sad that North Carolina has no Camp Fire councils so Emily will never be a Camp Fire girl herself.