Girl Scouts and Doll Question

Well, I am not a troop leader, but my daughter is in the scouts and I am friends with the leader. She puts A LOT of time into the troop. You have to do training classes, deal with the cookie selling (a ton of work!) and coordinating events. Plus you'll need to do weekly meetings, have crafts available, snacks, etc. I think if you do it, it'll be totally worth it, but yes, it is a lot of work!

I just bought my almost 4 yo her 1st "American Girl doll" (target dolls) but her big sister (9yo) had 1 (target doll) for years and this past Christmas recieved the real American Girl Doll. The $20 price tag is soooo much better than the $100 price tag and the worry that it will get damaged is so much less. and yes the "real" cloths fit the "fake" dolls! Until the child is old enough to play carefully with the real thing why spend all that money. (I personally wonder why spend all that money anyway. My In-laws bought it for my oldest I would have never spent the money even if I had it!)

In re: first part: I AM a Girl Scout leader and have been for seven years. I DO put a lot of effort into it, and it shows in that our troop has been either an Honor Troop or a Star (which replaced Honor last year) for the past 5 years. This is a GOOD thing because it means that my troop is well-rounded and is exposed to many many wonderful things. BUT I am a SAHM with a background in management so I am able to use a lot of my Project Management and leadership skills within the GS program. With THAT said, please know that as the leader, YOU pretty much get to define WHAT your daughter's troop "looks" like. You can host meetings weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. You can define dues and set it to be collected up front or at each meeting. You can delegate snack to each girl's family (this is tricky 'cause a forgetful parent/guardian can be very disappointing to the girls, so I always had a box of cookies in the car.) or use dues to purchase snack for the girls. You can pursue badge work or just do arts and crafts each meeting. Or you can focus the girls on service projects in their community. If you do decide to go for it, make sure you take the training courses. Also, ask the community director for a mentor, a leader with experience who can help at your first few meetings. At each meeting, have a few activities planned across a broad range of topics. This is good for a number of reasons. You may blast through one or two activities and have nothing to do. The girls may not be interested in the activity you planned. As far as reaching out to parents, this is up to you. I did in the early years and it was helpful. As the girls got older, something changed and the parents became more of a hinderance than a help. And with regard to the fundraisers, delegating is good too. Have a Cookie Mom or Dad you can TRUST.
I hope this information helps. My girls are still into it and enjoying themselves and they are all going into 8th grade!

As for the dolls, I know that many places sell clothing for 18" dolls which is what I believe the AG dolls are. I can't speak to the quality issues as my daughter has only the AG dolls. One is a hand-me-down still in good shape so I guess they are high quality.

To answer your first question: The amount of time and effort you put into being a GS leader depends on you. You will need to take training, you will have to hold regular meetings, which can be weekly or twice a month. There are always Moms who are happy to volunteer to lead the girls with earning badges, doing community service work, or being chaperones for field trips. So, you shouldn't be all alone in running the show.

My daughter has been in scouting for nine years, and this is my observation about the various leader she's had. The BEST leaders are the ones who are truly devoted to scouting. They do it because they believe in the GS principles and love seeing girls grow and blossom into capable, compassionate citizens with great leadership skills. These women devote A LOT of time and energy to their troops and consequently have girls who are very enthusiastic and involved.

The worst leaders I've known get into it only because their own daughters need a troop to belong to. They stay in it as long as their daughters are interested, and desert the other girls once their daughters decide to move on. They put in the least amount of time and effort, and the girls in their troops are bored and don't get much out of the experience. We've had both kinds of leaders through the years.

So, please consider carefully your motives for wanting to be a GS leader. If you only want to do it for your daughter, you could be shortchanging the other girls in the troop.

I wasn't the troop leader or anything, but the Daisy Troop (1st graders) that my daughter was part of this past school year met just once a month for 90 minutes and was pretty low key. Each time they had a craft or activity tied in to one of the petals they earned for their smocks (being helpful, honest, a good friend, etc.) They had a couple of outings, too, one to Petco, for instance. They sold cookies, and I think the hardest job any of the moms had was the one in charge of collecting the cookie money and getting all of the right boxes to the right girls. You should ask other moms to volunteer for specific jobs like that. We each contributed a snack or drink for everyone once during the year (with about 20 girls involved). My daughter enjoyed being a Daisy a lot, and I don't think it was an overwhelming amount of work for the moms who volunteered. I do know of another troop in our school district that meets every week, so of course the commitment there is much greater (though the troop of girls is probably smaller). Good luck! The Girl Scouts themselves will be able to tell you what guidelines need to be followed and how much leeway you have to make the troop what you'd like it to be. It should be a lot of fun.

I thought about getting a 18" doll from Target for my girls, because they are much, much less expensive than the American Girl dolls. But my girls wanted *specific* dolls that only AG had, so we went with that. It wasn't so much about the type of doll, but that *one* American Girl doll that they wanted. If your daughter just wants a larger 18" doll and doesn't really care about brand, I say go with the Target ones. Then you have more to spend on the clothes, which will fit both types of doll. After having spent a small fortune at the AG store, I've learned that the best place to buy 18" doll clothes is on ebay. There are hundreds and hundreds of dresses, shoes, accessories that cost a fraction of what you'll pay for the *real* American Girl stuff (which is so ridiculously overpriced, somebody should be arrested for it). Have fun doll shopping!

Being a girl scout is as much fun and is as much work as you make it. Your frien offered to be a co-leader. I would ask her what her plan is. Maybe she can do all the paper work. Thats a big help. There is usually a monthly meeting for the leaders that one or both of you will have to attend.Maybe you can take turns. It is a yearly committment. Its a fun way to bond with your daughter and get to know the other girls her age. If you're too busy already dont do it because you will end up not doing a good job and thats not fair to the girls.
My daughterd have American Girl dolls. We also have one from Target. they are very nice and are just about the same size. Ours is a boy, so we didnt put the girl clothes on it but it looks like they will work fine. The doll is nice and good quality. I reccommend it.

Being a Girl Scout lelader can be a lot of fun. It's a year ata time commitment. You meet once a week (usually in your home) and do a variety of crafts, songs, and fun activities. There is a guide book to help you. You can choose the size of your troop. I was a leader when my daughter as in kindergarten (about 25 years ago!). I started off with six girls, which fit perfectly at my kitchen table. A few years later, they needed a Brownie leader for an established troop at Fort Wadsworth, so I went there. By then, my daughter had moved up to Junior Girl Scouts and I thought she would be better off in someone else's troop, so I remained a Brownie leader.

I would call the girl scout council and see if they can answer your questions or put you in touch with another Daisy leader who can. My daughter is not old enough for scouts yet but I was a girl scout for 20 years, from Brownies until after college. I am not that familiar with the Daisy program since it was added later. My mom was the leader for my troop when I was in Brownies and Juniors (she is still a volunteer 20 years later). She usually met with her coleader for one planning meeting and we had one troop meeting per week. Our troop meetings were usually 90 minutes but you might be able to do an hour with younger girls. We usually had one main activity like part of a patch or a craft project and then snack and some songs or games to fill in. There is some training for new leaders and for other specific topics (like first aid and troop camping). Selling cookies is a big job as well and you will want another parent to handle just that job (perferably one with a big garage).

My sister has bought 5 dolls for some of my neices. It is her present to them when they turn 8. They are sturdy and if something happens they have a "doll hospital" that youcan send them to be repaired. The dog chewed the fingers and the arm was replaced, they also removed makeup from another dolls face. I would recomend th eAmerican Girl doll.

As for Girls scouts there is some trainings you have to go through to be a Leader, first aid/cpr is one. You also have to be fingerprinted. My sister was and assistant leader and she did alot. Check on the requirements.

Daisy girl scouts should not require a tremendous amount of time. Things
at that age are pretty simple. A meeting once a week or every other
week; a craft; cooking; a trip to an orchard etc.

Not sure about how generic AD holds up IMO Target is a great brand and
you can get clothes pretty much anywhere. I know craft kiosks at the malls
sell them during a craft show. AD is a pretty standardsize.

I've been a girl scout mom for 9 years, both my daughters are now at the senior level. To become a leader there is a lot of training, a lot can be done online. Initially you'll be making a two year committment (I think, there have been so many changes in the past 3 years, I can't keep up) for daisies. As far as other time committments, it depends on so many things. A know in our area, our service unit has a meeting once a month. You can decide how often your troop will meet, usually once a week or every other week. You can also set the time of the meeting. Usually at this age there is a snack involved, but if you have the meetings at 6:00 pm, the girls have just had dinner and no snack is needed, less for you to worry about. You can also request help and assistance from the parents. Lots of times there are older girl scouts, who will be willing to help out at a meeting. In most areas at the daisy level, you don't need to do the cookie sales.

Check out the website for your council (you can go to www.girlscouts.org to the find a council link), you can find some more information there.

I see you have many responses, but more can't hurt I guess. My daughters (8 and 10) have the Target dolls, and they love them. I think they are a great alternative to the AG dolls (which sorry, i think are a RIP OFF). Target has PLENTY of outfits that fit the dolls; the girls normally get a new doll outfit for their bday and Christmas. AG accessories do work with the dolls, but who wants to pay those prices? Target also has other accessories, like the bathtub, bed, etc... still pricey but nothing compared to AG.

My girls have been in 2 girl scout troops; the first one was when they were Daisies with a leader who had once monthly meetings and didn't put much into it. They didn't camp or anything. We LOVED it. It was less burden on our time, and they still did enough at the monthly meetings and also some Saturday activities (like a play, nature walk, etc.). The troop they are in now is VERY active. They meet twice monthly, but it seems like every weekend there is some activity that they can go to (we don't go to all of them). That troop leader puts TONS of time into it. We switched for a couple of reasons: Their meetings are on Mondays, whereas the other troop was on Fridays, which wasn't so good for us. Also, their first troop only had Daisies/Brownies, and my older daughter was moving up to the Jr. level, so she wanted to be with kids in her grade. All in all, the less active troop was nicer for us because it took up far less time.

Hope this helps.

I would love to be a brownie/girl scout leader, but I heard you have to take training courses on the weekend, which is when I work. I will find out more info when my daughter starts school in the fall... but at the very least i plan on assisting the troop leader as much as i can.

as for the doll... I bought generic dolls from AC Moore for my daughters (but they are young and don't know about AG yet)... .with a printable coupon from their website, it was only $10! They also sell clothes at AC Moore... check it out! I always print out coupons before i go there!!!

I heard the AG dolls have really nice hair. I put the generic dolls' hair into braids because I didn't feel like dealing with the mess, and it's still a bit knotty. You can also check craigslist for an AG girl at a fraction of the cost... unless your daughter wants a specific one and it's new. All of the dolls are 18 inch though, so the clothes should be interchangable. So if you have an AG doll, you can still buy clothes at AC Moore, Michaels, and Target.

I am a Daisy Leader. My youngest daughter is 20 yrs old a junior in college but we love GS. After my daughter finished High School a started a troop and it is work but lots of fun too, actually it is what you make it!

About the doll.... my 20 yr old had an American Girl look a like and it is still in her room she loved it! My 4 yr grand daughter just got a real one and they are just about the same, the real one is an inch taller. The have cloth for them in the craft store, too. I made the doll a daisy uniform, real cute!

my girls have the "madame alexander girlz" 18" dolls that Costco usually carries around Christmastime - around $20-25 IIRC and IMO they seem better quality than the Target dolls but not as $$$ as the AG ones.
And if you sew at all, you can find free online patterns to make clothes that fit AG and other 18" dolls - I got some here: http://agplaythings.com//AG%20Patterns/DollDressPatterns....
(and then I found a girls nightgown pattern when JoAnn Fabrics had a 99 cent pattern sale that was similar to the AG one and made matching nightgowns for my girls and their dolls for waaaaaaay less than the AG sets, DH says my sewing machine paid for itself when I was done with that project)

Re: scouts - I am also going to be a first time troop leader for my daughter's Daisy troop this year. I recommend contacting your local council. I'm sure they can put you in touch with other moms who can share their experience.

Re: dolls - My customers have told me that the Target dolls have nightmare hair, so if think your daughter will be into brushing and styling her doll's hair a lot, you might want to reconsider. AG dolls have very high quality wig hair (a large part or their cost), and Target dolls have much lower quality rooted hair. Both dolls have nearly the same 18 inch body type, so the clothes are pretty interchangeable. I haven't seen that many outfits in Target, but maybe there is more online. There are definitely many other sources for clothes out there as well. I'm a consultant for Emily Rose @Home which specializes in clothes and furniture for 18 inch dolls. You can check out the website or look for a consultant in your area.
www.emilyroseathome.com/sharigriffen
We also carry the new Favorite Friends line of 18 inch dolls from Madame Alexander. At $39.99, they're considerably less than AG but much higher quality than Our Generation.

S.
For the Little Doll in Your Life - centralnjemilyroseathome.blogspot.com

Dear M., It is so nice that you want to be a Girl Scout leader. My mom was a leader as long as I can remember. If you are young, have patience and love little girls you will be great. My grand daughter went from "dasies" to now "brownies". I filled in one day and they are a good group of girls. Our group meets one day a week, after school. If you have a choice pick a day that your co-leader can assist. Little girls can get out of hand if you are not prepared. You must lay down the ground rules from day one. After a day of school they only want to run around. I also found it helpful that some older children stayed around to take them to the bathroom. (good to go as a group so you get it over with) You would want to have projects ready in advance. We order from Oriental trading or save egg cartons etc. You may want to stay away from paint until the girls are older. I could go on forever. It should only be the day of your meeting and one day of prep. Have fun!
About the dolls. My grand also has both. They look so much alike (except for price) The clothing does fit both. In our family we try to get a few together to chip in on the accessories. Grandma Mary