New Year brings the time of the year when everyone (myself included) turns to eating right and exercising. In my quest to stay eternally young, I usually take January to shed the holiday weight, and start training for this year's races. One of my biggest nemesis is always my inevitable sweet tooth. I always joke that I exercise so that I could eat, and if I didn't exercise so much I would weigh 400 lbs.
January is the month when you can open up the newspaper and diet foods, exercise equiptment, and vitamins are all on sale. I know I am not the only one looking to get back on track. You can see it all around you. That is why I was so surprised to get on Facebook the other morning and see moms all over selling , IN JANUARY, Girl Scout Cookies!
What genius in the Girl Scout world decided that most people would want to purchase cookies right as New Year's Resolutions are being made? Can't we have a break between the gluttony of the holidays and when we are expected to support our local troops by purchasing overpriced sweets? Crazy.
So, I go to the Girl Scout website to see if there is any explanation. What I found instead, made me start thinking. I opened up the page about "Why sell Girl Scout cookies?" and read about all of the wonderful life skills selling cookies gives our girls. These were very realistic, very approriate skills that girls need to have to enter the business world today. Goal setting. Decision making. Money management. People skills. As a business major myself, I completely understand how these skill can help the girls later on in life. After reading these, I feel good about purchasing the cookies from them, even thought I can get similar cookies for half the amount at the local grocery store.
Fast forward a few hours, and I open up my computer to find several emails from friends asking if I will purchase cookies from their daughters. Hmm. Is this part of teaching skills to the girls? I see Facebook posts telling people to contact the MOMS if they would like to buy cookies. Again, is this going to help the kids how to reach their goals?
I am confused. Are the girls supposed to be selling the cookies, or are the moms? When I was younger I WAS a Girl Scout. I went door to door asking my neighbors to buy my cookies. Then it would be SO frustrating when someone in our troop would win bigger prizes because their dad took the form in to work, and sold more there. It didn't really reinforce the idea that you should be setting goals and working hard to achieve them. Instead, it made me think that my dad should work in a bigger office. If he could sell more boxes in a day there, why should I bother with the neighbors?
With the technology available today, it is way too easy for parents to ask for the kids. I understand "safety issues", which is why the Girl Scout websites has a whole parent PDF about how to support your daughter in her sales. No where on there do they suggest that you sell for her, use your social media to take orders, or carry the order form for her to work.
Instead they suggest that you provide transportation for her to take orders and deliver. They suggest that you help her network or take her to your office, but they specifically state that she should do the ASKING. I do believe that their program will help the girls develop skills, but only if you let them.
So, I digress. The hurdle to me reaching my fitness goals this year are the Girl Scout cookies. How am I going to handle it? Easy. Just how I have done it for years. If a Girl Scout (not her mom, dad, grandma, or Facebook page) asks me to buy cookies I absolutely will. All other requests are met with a resounding "No thank you." This is what we have done for the last 10 years at my house, and if you can believe it, there are years that go by where we don't buy a single box. This way, I am supporting the girls who are working hard. I am helping develop the skills the way that the Girl Scout program intended it to work. And in my own little way, I am helping develop women leaders for the future.
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