Girl Scout Cookies


This is the first year Beatrix has been a Daisy. I wasn't a Girl Scout — my family tradition is Camp Fire Girls — but I have really appreciated the emphasis on friendship and values in her troupe. It's a nice contrast to her other extracurriculars (circus, ballet, violin, Spanish). And of course, right now is Girl Scout Cookie time!

I was unprepared, actually, for the various vituperative cookie controversies.

Most offensive is "CookieCott," which wants us to boycott Girl Scout cookie sales because the Girl Scouts cite Wendy Davis and Kathleen Sebelius (among others including Hillary Clinton, Betty Freidan, Amnesty International, and NOW) as worthy role models. Personally, if my daughter grows up to be the kind of woman that exemplifies those principles, I will be immensely proud. If anything, it makes me realize how very good the Girl Scouts could be for my daughter, and what kind of values they exemplify.

(As an aside, a competing group offers a badge for protesting outside Planned Parenthood. Exactly what I want my daughter to be doing — rolls eyes).

 But controversy comes in many forms, and it's almost harder when it comes from people I believe in. This weekend I watched a minor twitter-explosion about the quality of the ingredients and how Girl Scouts would be better off baking themselves than peddling cookies. While I respect my foodie friends, I'll humbly suggest that, in this case at least, it's not about the baked goods (though I do like that the cookies are locally baked and distributed, which is why they vary by area, why they are different in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and why the Duluth chapter offers a gluten-free variety). It's about what it does for the girls and their troupe and their activities.

Beatrix is a little slow to warm up to it all, but when she does, she loves to tell you about what their troupe will do with the funds and why she likes to be a Daisy. She'll even try to do the math of selling you a few boxes (don't worry, I'll double check it). Any maybe, just maybe, it will lead her to be another Wendy Davis, someday.

(let me know if you want to order some cookies from her)

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