Guiders' staff room - tea, wine, chat and optional dancing around the toadstool

Back to brownies now. We started the writers badge, talked about holiday news and made a card for our county commissioner who is finished her term this year.

One of the YL is 18 this week, so got her card signed. Party next week when all guilders are back.

Nice to meet all you new joiners, especially if you came via the litter picking thread.

One week until our massive camp, fingers crossed for decent weather.

I thought I'd pop in and say hello! I'm a Brownie Guider.

We took out girls on a Farm to Fork trip a while back and they loved it. Highly recommended.

Hi Pup :-D
Have a cuppa

Welcome pup x

waves Hi!

I'm really pleased to have found this thread, I'm a rainbow guider.

I'm so glad we had an extra week off as I am so poorly with a chest infection. My fibromyalgia isn't helping.

I know about farm to fork but never got round to going. Morrisons and Asda do something similar apparently and Toby Carvery do a free visit where they often get a meal.

Glad to hear it went well.

Having a good (ish) week. Prepping for a massive camp and then my sleepover license.

Have you seen this thread on AIBU? www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2361888-To-not-be-happy-about-Brownies-litter-picking

Well I've hit the 200 hours in two weeks mark for my 'little hobby'.
An hour a week my eye!

BH was lovely, but two were desperately homesick and went home; I always expect it to be the new shy ones and it's always the older more apparently confident ones who need their Mum.

Spent the rest of the week planning the term (last minute of course) and then rejigging all our arrival and filler activities as one of the new Brownies has some particular needs so I need to get them all quietened down a bit.

We are famously a loud shouty singing and dancing pack so it will be interesting to see how we get on. Lots of calls with new Mum and rewriting most of my risk assessments for ratios and provision of quiet space.

Talking of planning. Are you all aware of Tescos Farm to Fork Trails? I hadn't heard of them but they seem very pleased to have us: we'll tour the back rooms as well as the store and have a go at making bread and learn more about where the food comes from/how it's produced.

How's everyone else's week going?

Wishing you luck for your PH weekend Momb.

These days, I'm leaning more towards the ruthless approach. No form by deadline = no trip. I think of it as a contract: parents spend 10 minutes filling in a form and returning it by our deadline, we provide their daughter with a day or weekend of safe fun. That's a pretty good deal, isn't it?

It's hard though. The parents really don't understand the amount of prep we need to do and in her mind I'm sure she's thinking that my increasingly frantic messages are ridiculous because of course adding her daughter's details to the list for the external contact will only take 2 minutes. It's the fact that I actually have other things to do as well that is the problem.
Tonight I'm rejigging the programme, the sleeping arrangements and the risk assessments to accommodate a girl with recent mobility problems, when I should be concentrating on prep for craft activities and the ever changing supermarket order, or my own daughter's homework, or the state my house is in.
..and breathe. We'll have a lovely time and I always enjoy it, although it's knackering. The girls have a great time in spite of the fact I'm a bit shouty on the Friday night when they won't go to sleep, and we send them home full of sugar and absolutely exhausted. So looking forward to it!! (although at this time of night it seems that I may never complete the blessed paperwork).

Send an email today cc tgr DC giving till noon tomorrow for the information, followed by a text advising her to check her email.

On Friday, prep the team so one of you is on the lookout for her arrival and can get you. DO NOT accept the forms and don't let
Flossies come on the pack holiday and very clearly explain to mum that you are happy to discuss the reasons with her and your DC at another time.

Then I would prepare her an invoice for the outstanding amount and not be guilt ed. Parents need to bear in mind that we have lives and other commitments too and it is good practice to get all info to home contact and reviewed by team before the ph.

How many times do you ask for a consent form before you remove the child from the list? I have been in tears trying to sort the risk assessments and paperwork for Brownie Holiday, and still one parent does not return the consent form and balance. I do not want to be sorting the emergency contacts list on the day of the holiday. I've been asking for weeks.
I was actually weeping about this: I don't want this girl to miss out but part of me at this late stage is thinking that for my own sanity I need to tell them no. We leave on Friday and I've had no balance or consent. I've even tried saying 'just email me the details and I'll fill out the form with you on Thursday' but she can't even be bothered to do that. So fed up.

Had an inadvertent ramble on the thread that @BackforGood posted. Hopefully it added something to the conversation.

'scuse me ladies

Could any of you lovely Leaders help this poster over Here please?

Wow that was fast. I love the rainbow tapes

My name tapes have arrived!!!! All beautifully rainbow threaded . Who wants to indulge me by ooohhhing and also amazement at rapid turnaround?

I too am sticking my head in the sand about the accounts. I know it won't actually take too long to do, but I can't yet motivate myself. Maybe next week.

Thanks for the woggles ideas, keep em coming. GG shop used to sell an owl woggle for 80p, but out of stock.

Never got into the loom band craze so no stocks to use up. Wonder if paracord would work...

Becles: I haven't found anything cheaper than the GGUK one at 50p but it is very plain...

Becles: have you tired woggleworkshop? They do kits to make 6 leather woggles for a little over£6 so about £1 each?

I'm up to my eyeballs in brownie holiday planning at the moment, meanwhile I have vague plans for next term which I really must do something about once the Tesco food order is done and all the girls with allergies' parents have seen the detailed list!

Becles we made woggles out of loom bands. They work really well

So next term is brownie skills and 2 outings. We going to a county activities night, and Krispy Kreme for a tour and making our own doughnuts.

It's a short term as we break up in June.

Happy Easter So far this guiding free weekend I have: ordered name tapes and neckers, been unable to find cheap but leather woggles, toyed with the idea of making our own woggles, ignored my accounts, planned sleepover for my license then realised that I need to wait to cost as I have to wait for different units to come back to me about part of the day trip they want to do with me, seen sweeney Todd (Emma Thompson is amazing) and watched non stop carryon films with a friend. I really don't want the weekend to end.

To help.me get back into work mode, I have been watching Revenge while tenuously keeping the guiding spirit alive by mainlining eating truffles 'trefoils' geddit like chocolate was going out of fashion. I'm currently working on a plan to somehow levitate from the sofa to bed.

How was your weekend?