With Girl Scout cookie season on the horizon, here are some preparation tips for you to utilize so it does not overtake your home life.
Any seasoned leader will tell you that cookie season can be a chaotic one for them and their families. For years I have read about leaders who are on the verge of quitting because of cookie season and how it wrecks their family life for months. There are leaders who share that they do not see their families at all during this time, how their house goes to pot, and how they do not cook during this time.
These things are not something I can get on board with.
It really isn’t funny to ignore your family for two or three months, nor is it healthy to run yourself down to the point of physical and mental exhaustion. The cookie “business” is not something that needs to overtake leaders’ personal lives. These are not the humble brags Facebook posters make them out to be.
Here are some tips to help you avoid these pitfalls during Girl Scout cookie season.
Girl Scout Cookie Season Tip #1
Set firm boundaries with your troop families
Life is busy for everyone, but just because it is, that does not mean you have to be at the beck and call of parents who want cookies when they want cookies.
At your cookie Parent Meeting, and in all communication going forward, you might want to have in your signature, your designated cookie pick up times and the times you will respond to cookie texts, emails, and calls. Even if someone has the audacity to come to your home at an undesignated time (and I have read of that happening to leaders), you do not have to give anyone cookies. If you give the parent cookies, you have destroyed your boundary and there is no going back.
You are a volunteer who deserves to have down time with their family and for yourself.
Girl Scout Cookie Season Tip #2
Don’t overdo it
Even if your troop has a high cookie sales goal, the girls and their families need to pull their weight as well. They need to be respectful of your time and energy. Limit the number of booths you are doing if you do not get help running them-cancel them if necessary. You will burn out if you are at multiple booths each weekend for months at a time.
You may decide to skip booths altogether and only do digital cookies sales and walkabouts. It’s fine.
Girl Scout Cookie Season Tip #3
Don’t stress over how much a scout sells
Every year, this topic appears in the Girl Scout Facebook groups. What should leaders do about girls who do not sell, or sell very little?
Short answer-nothing. Cookie selling is voluntary and there is nothing you can do about it if a child doesn’t sell a single box. There may be very personal reasons why a child is not selling that are none of your business.
The energy spent on being angry, upset, or frustrated about a non-selling family is robbing you of that energy. Be like Elsa and let it go. Troop money is troop money, whether a girl sells one box or one thousand boxes. In the end, it is not her fault.
The bottom line is that Girl Scout cookie sales should not get in the way of your personal lives. Prioritizing cookies over your family is not how you need to run your troop’s “business”. It also is not a great role model to your child of what work/life balance is.