Girl Scout Cookies – Supporting Girl-Led Travel and Empowerment Since 1917
Now that the holidays are over, the decorations are put away, and we have all hit our sugary treat, overindulgent, overloads, you might think that your waistline is about to get a much-needed reprieve. NOPE!
It’s that time of year again. Girl Scout Cookie season … You can’t see it, but I’m doing a happy dance … I am sure all you duckies have started seeing Girl Scout Cookie Booths pop up at your local grocery stores, parents imploring you to buy cookies from their daughters on Facebook, or been hit up by your local friendly neighborhood Scouts.
Have you bought any boxes yet? Or should I ask, how many boxes have you already purchased? How many have you purchased, eaten, hidden, then pretended never existed, and got more from the next Girl Scout you met? However you support the Girl Scouts, it’s a wonderful thing. From buying a single box each season to many boxes every week of the sale, you are supporting a long tradition of empowerment and community.
Thank you.
Now, you might be asking yourself. Why does this Fat Mama give a flying duck about Girl Scout Cookies? I mean, sure, they are delicious, and they certainly help me maintain my curvaceous figure. But what in the wide world of feathered friends do Girl Scout Cookies have to do with travel? Well, let me tell you.
First and foremost, it's because I am incredibly proud of my Girl Scout Itsy Bitsy who is working hard to sell her Girl Scout Cookies to help her Troop cover the cost of activities and travel! To support her and Daisy Troop 15521, click here to purchase Girl Scout Cookies and have them shipped directly to you. But it is much more than supporting my daughter. The Girl Scouts are a long family tradition for me and I think it is fair to say a BIG reason why travel was such an important part of my childhood.
My Grandmother, My Mother, and Me
This November, two other moms and I worked together to start a new Daisy Troop for our daughters. The Girl Scouts did not have a Troop in our area open for kindergarten and first grade girls. This meant if our daughters were going to be in the Girl Scouts, a new troop would have to be started, and since no one was stepping up to start it, the three of us needed to take charge.
Now, I feel very lucky. My Co-Leaders both very much wanted to be the primary Co-Leaders of the Troop (each Troop is supposed to have 2 Troop Leaders), while I desperately wanted to play more of an “assistant to the assistant manager” type of role. I really didn’t want to be the “one in charge”.
Additionally, our skills all complement each other’s very well. One leader is amazing at planning and organizing the meetings, another is on top of all the logistics, paperwork, and council relationships, and I get to be the “maker." That is, I make stuff happen. Whatever my Co-Leaders and our Troop need, I get it done.
So naturally, I’m our Troop’s Cookie Momster!
While this might be my first year as Cookie Momster, I wasn’t going into this completely blind. Oh no. You see, the force runs deep in my family. Wait … wrong movie.
Fat Mama Tip: Okay, this is less of a tip and more a fun fact. Did you know that Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher are both Girl Scout alumna? So the force really does run deep in this sisterhood!
When Itsy Bitsy expressed a desire to join the Girl Scouts, I was SO EXCITED! Not only had I also been a Girl Scout, but my mom had been one of my Troop Leaders. Not only had my mom been one of my Troop Leaders, but when Gigi and Fabby were girls, they both had been Girl Scouts. And you know what? Not only had they been Girl Scouts, but my grandmother had also been Fabby's Troop Leader.
So, when I say that Girl Scouting is a long and proud tradition in my family, I really mean it and am proud that Itsy Bitsy is a fourth generation Girl Scout. I am also extremely proud to be one of Itsy Bitsy’s Girl Scout Leaders, just like my mother before me, and her mother before her. Someday, if she chooses to, I hope to help Itsy Bitsy lead a Troop of her own.
With all these generations of experience behind me, I might be facing Girl Scout Cookie season for the first time, but I do have some firsthand experience and plenty of secondhand advice to prepare me for what to expect. So I am very excited to jump into this adventure with both feet. It also helps that my Co-Leaders and the parents of our Daisy Scouts are excited about Girl Scout Cookie season too!
But I still have not explained how in the waddle Girl Scout Cookies are connected to travel. So here it goes…