I inquired about Girl Scouts a year ago when my daughter entered kindergarten, but was told all troops were full and she could sit on a waiting list. Sure, that's fine. Ok.
A year passes...
I got an email from a lady who was starting a new troop of Daisy Girl Scouts. She was starting a new group of girls from the waiting list and sent several emails begging for a co-leader. The lady didn't spell anything correctly, no capital letters at the beginning of her sentences, and barely any punctuation. After three poorly written emails requesting all sorts of help in all ways to lead the group, I politely declined. I will not lead a troop.
Soon after, another mom in Gracie's class said her daughter was in Girl Scouts so I asked her about it and she said she'd tell her leader that Gracie was waiting for a group. The next day a troop leader called and had space for Gracie in a new troop. This lady seems to be able to speak and write in full sentences so I thought, "Yay!"
I met her for lunch and filled out all sorts of registration forms, read through the expectations, welcome packet, looked at her books, etc. She had so much paperwork it was astounding. I didn't have the $24 registration fee with me in cash and she said she'd allow me to drop it at her house or mail it or pay at the Girl Scout office. Ok, I can do that. In the meantime, Gracie is a member and it will be official when I pay her registration. Sounds great!
In between all of the business that we always have going on in this house, I did drop by her house to pay the registration fee. Nobody home. No mailbox out front because they have one of those group mailbox things in their neighborhood. Oh well, I'll try again later.
She called me several times to make sure I was going to pay it and kept telling me to hurry up. I told her I'd just put it in the mail then so she'd get it quicker because I was busy and didn't have time to run around town (true). She said ok, but then called again and said not to mail it because she needed it and was afraid it would be lost in the mail.
Ok, fine, then she has to wait until after Fenna leaves and I have time. I told her it would have to wait until the end of June because I was swamped with family activity. That was fine, I could just give it to her at the Girl Scout event that they were having. Oh, easier. That's great.
Event... it was a special showing of the movie Brave just for the Girl Scouts. Sort of. Ok, it was changed to just the Girl Scouts going to the movie at an already scheduled time, no special pricing, whatever, not a special showing just for them, totally not a big deal. Another event change: Pizza after the movie and she chose the 8:00am show. Hold on, a movie at 8am and pizza at 9:30am? Oy. Ok.... Event change: No other family members allowed to come to the movie. Only the girl scout and one parent. Wait one minute, I can't bring my other kid to a public showing and pay the ticket price for her? Girl Scouts isn't paying for the kids and adults anyway so why should it matter if people bring their families? I politely declined. We wanted to see the movie together. We went together and it was great fun! Plus, it was the last fun thing we did with Fenna and I think that was more important to the girls.
Another change to the event: Pizza day was moved to July 21st. I had to decline that one too because we'll be on vacation that day.
I still had to pay the lady though! Went to her house again and rang the bell with check in hand. Nobody home. Arg! I have such bad timing! Drove straight to the Girl Scout office instead. They had a big sign on their door that said closed but I could see someone in there. Got the kids out and we tried the door, it was open. Small print under the Closed sign had some date in the future, good thing I saw the gal through the window.
I tried to pay her but she said that I should pay the leader, or I have to fill out the registration forms again. Oh joy. She said there was no hurry though, it's the beginning of July and fees do not have to be paid until mid-September. Hmm, cool. I was under the impression that the leader was in immediate need of the cash, but that isn't the case. I told the lady in the office I'd pay her promptly anyway because she's been pressuring me for it. We looked at the Daisy uniforms and bought the Daisy Guide book.
Then I went to the fabric store and got fabric to make a Daisy uniform instead of paying $17 for a little vest, I paid $3 for a yard of the same colored fabric.
Two days later, I get an email that the leader quit because she is moving due to a job change and the group is being taken over by another mom. I'm starting to wonder if this is going to be worth it with all of the changes and mixed messages so far, and we're just in the sign-up stage.
I posted on Facebook: "Hmmm.... Put Gracie in Girl Scouts or Soccer for her 1st grade year? So far both are appealing to her and neither are appealing to me. :/" I got 29 varied responses. The timing was hilarious because minutes later...
New email from the new leader:
"Hello,
I was just going over all the paper work to make sure everything has been completed. And unfortunately we will have to be dropping Gracie from the troop. We have not received payment and she has not been registered. I know there have been several attempts to complete her regestration with no success. There are over 300 girls eager to be on a troop and we can no longer hold her spot."
Seriously? Did we just get kicked out of Girl Scouts? Payment isn't due for two months and that's not good enough? Maybe new the new leader just doesn't know that I've tried to pay but I've been really busy and this is just a poorly worded request for payment.
My reply:
I apologize that I did not have my checkbook the day I met up
with [past leader] and filled in all the paperwork. I did offer to mail the check but
she said not to, and later got a message saying she was watching for it in the
mail so I was confused about mailing it in and opted not to since that was
safer. I tried to drop it at her house one time but must have been ringing her
bell when she wasn’t home, there was a car in the driveway so I figured someone
would be there, but I didn’t want to leave it on the step. I also stopped
in the office and tried to pay there, but they wanted me to fill out all the
paperwork again and my 3 yr old needed go to potty, so I didn’t have time.
Always something. I did buy the Daisy Guide book. The office told me
there was no hurry and I had plenty of time, until Sept. Since you are in more
of a hurry, I will stop at the office again and re-file the paperwork and pay
there. Thank you for your attempts to keep us in the group, but we have
had a lot of things going on at home in our family and I honestly haven’t had
any spare time. We could not make it to the Brave movie event because we
wanted to see it together as a family and the pizza event is happening while we
are on vacation. It’s not that we are not interested, but I understand
you have no way of knowing that.
Mary Schumacher
Gracie’s Mom
Cell:xxx-xxxxShe zips one back:
Mary,
I wasn't present for the conversations between you and [past leader] so I am not sure of what was said, or where the disconnect came from. I understand about being busy and have a lot of going on as I have 2 small kids, a husband and a full time job. The Daisy guide book was optional as me and Kristy did not feel it was necessarily for was child to have one, as stated in the welcome packet. I am sure you will be able to return it. It is not that I am in a large hurry, it is that there have been lots of girls begging to join a troop. Again I apologize for the confusion but we have already let another girl know that we have an available spot. Girl Scouts is a huge commitment and maybe with all that you already have going on, it will be too much of a commitment for you guys. I am sorry that it did not work out. If we have a spot become available I can let you know, if you are still interested.
Hmmph. We got the boot! My freshly kicked ass replied with:
I’m astonished that we were given no warning of removal
and no second chance to be involved. If that is how things are done in the
troop then it is best to not be involved. I will have to explain to my daughter
that you do not want her in the troop; I’m sure we will find a more welcoming
activity.
Yup, I really sent it!
Same day, new email. I don't even want to open it, but I did:
"Hi, my name is [4th leader in this mini-drama]. I will be starting a Daisy Girl Scout Troop this October,
along with [another name], in the local area. This will be the
first year for this troop. Girls going into Kindergarten and 1st grade
can become Daisy Scouts."
No freaking way. In less than a month, my daughter was offered to join three troops now and it's been nothing but paperwork, mixed messages, missed calls, miscommunication, changes here, changes there, inclusion/exclusion games and a fun little ride on someone's power trip. I'm not going to do this for a full year. We are going to the Girl Scout office and return the Daisy book.
Soccer suddenly sounds like a fabulous idea! But the 100 degree fall heat is not one bit appealing. So, I've decided to look and see what City Recreation offers and we'll go with whatever they have. We've had very good luck with their swim lessons, gymnastics and ballet classes.
Can't believe we almost got sucked into the drama club. That would have been one headache after another. So relieved we discovered the trouble before it even started! I admit, some of it was my fault for not paying fast enough, but I tried and can't help but think fate stepped in the way for me.
I think we earned a cookie.
* I've left out all of the real names of the Girl Scout leaders. While I'm not happy with any of them and their quest to fill my life with catty drama, I do respect their willingness to volunteer and for that I'm not going to post their real names. I will eat another cookie in honor of my last teeny bit of honor and respect that I've been able to salvage after this experience.
