Being a Brownie and a Rainbow at the same time? AIBU to say no?

[RainbowsorBrownies]

DD aged 7 is so close to getting her Rainbow Gold Award. She just has her challenge and 1 more theme to do.

But she’s due to start Brownies next week.

She’s been offered an extra term at Rainbows until Christmas to get her Gold done but she’s also been offered a space at Brownies, they’re on different nights and she could technically attend both.

Rainbows leader reasoning is she’s:
A) only just 7 (end of July) so could technically attend until Easter next year it’s just local rules insist she moves up the term after she’s 7
B) She’s going to the only Rainbow to ever get her Gold under the new programme in the entire district.

But I think I’m going to say no, she does 2 other out of school activities although she doesn’t love anything as much as GGs. I also can’t really afford to do both at the same time. I didn’t even know it was thing I thought she had to only be in one age group. Plus there's a waiting list for Rainbows spaces so it seems selfish to do both at once.

She’s already started working on her Brownies Interest badges so I don’t think telling her to pick one will go down well, she also has some SN and has basically "transtitioned" in her head to being a Brownie now.

I’ve literally only been told this today about Rainbows, I didn’t realise she was so close to getting Gold otherwise I’d have suggested delaying Brownies start for a term until after Christmas.

So AIBU? Or do I suck it up for her to be the first Rainbow in her district to get Gold?

It sounds like she’s happy to move on from rainbows? If so let her, the gold is nice to have but it’s not like she needs it for life. If she’s mentally ready for brownies let her go for it.

@BattenburgDonkey Yes definitely now mentally ready for Brownies, she did a couple of meetings with Brownies before summer ended and she loved it and has done a couple of Interest Badges for Brownies over the summer so she's now in her mind a Brownie not a Rainbow.

It's only for one term, it'd be lovely for her to get her gold award.

My daughter got her gold from rainbows in July. Given the pandemic had affected face to face sessions, she and another girl had permission to do some of the stuff at home so she could get it done in time. ( she moves to Brownies next week)
could this be a compromise? It wasn’t massively time consuming to do at home

@DontWannaBeObamasElf Gold would be lovely and if the Rainbows leader had approached me before DD did a few summer meetings with Brownies and said "Can she get her Gold by doing an extra term?" I'd have said "Yes delay Brownies until after Christmas" but she's done her "practice" with Brownies and is excited to join them, I can't afford both at the same time and don't think it's fair to do both.

@deeplybaffled She has 1 whole theme that she hasn't done any UMHs or Skills Builders for so she'd need to attend the f2f meetings I think.

Let her get her Gold, it's a big acheivement.
DS was a Cub and a Scout at the same time for a term for similar reasons.

Hi, rainbow and brownie leader here. She can not attend both, just keep her at rainbows a bit longer and start at brownies after Xmas

@RainbowsorBrownies we did the skill builder stuff at home for a full theme. ( the orange one, I think) It can be done if your unit agree.

@nowaynotnownotever Thats what I thought she can't do both, I think as lovely as Gold would be she's in her head a Brownie now (she has some SN) so we'd have to let it go, she has no idea she's so close to getting it though she literally needs 1 more full theme and her challenge but she has no idea that there's an award above Silver.

We also did the challenge work at home too

I would tell her and let her decide. She might want to do the gold, it she might prefer to go up to brownies, but I think it should be her decision.

@RainbowsorBrownies this is not an uncommon situation. We just give the girls the choice when they turn 7 - explain would you like to stay until Xmas to get Gold or go straight to brownies. We hold onto quite a few for a few weeks for a half term sometimes so they can complete if they'd like to. She'll have 3+ years to enjoy brownies

Yes I agree

I’m a Rainbow leader, she can’t technically be both at the same time. I’d let her choose it it were me! But we don’t have space in our local units to let girls stay past their 7th birthday anyway.

That's interesting we were told by our rainbow leader that you absolutely cannot do both as a child can only be registered with one organisation at a time, in your daughters case that would have to be rainbows or she wouldn't be able to get her badges added onto the system.

My daughter is 7 next month we've applied for a January place in Brownies and were told if there's no space she could stay on another term in rainbows, if she stayed on she would get her gold but she would rather move up as she'd have longer in Brownies and might get their gold badge!

It's a very long time since I was a Brownie and Rainbows didn't exist then, so I don't really know how it works, but does she actually have to attend Rainbows to meet the Gold requirements? Or is it stuff you could do at home? Presumably until she makes her promise at Brownies she is still technically a Rainbow so is there any kind of wriggle room?
I suspect the leaders are keen for her to get the award as it's a bit of a feather in their caps, but it would be nice for your DD too. Back in the early 1980s my parents moved house when I was one badge off my Queen's Guide award and it didn't seem worth joining a new group just to finish that. It does make me a little bit sad even all these years later that I got so close to completing it but just fell short. I've achieved much bigger things since then, but it still niggles just a little, and I do think I let my Guide Leader down a bit when she'd been such a big support to me. I know she was disappointed that I didn't quite get there, so I can kind of see your DD's leader's point of view.
But ultimately it should all be about fun, especially at this age, so I'd be led by your DD as much as possible.

Let her do whichever she wants.

But no need to do both.

It sounds like she is ready for Brownies and keen to move on. Perhaps the Brownie Gold Award is something for her to aim for? It also sounds as though the leaders of her Rainbow group are more keen for her to get the Gold Award than she is herself?

Rainbows assistant leader, she cannot be on both units. Need to pick one or the other.

@Kittycorn I think this is my thinking, she's been prepared for Brownies now. Had Rainbows told me they wanted to keep her for an extra term to get Gold before the prep for Brownies I'd have obviously agreed but I now think it's time to forget Rainbows and aim for Brownies theme awards (if she gets Bronze, Silver and Gold then thats a bonus too).

Rainbow and brownie leader here - i personally think that Brownie Gold is much more achievable, as you get the extra year in the section to cover the requirements. I've also never had a rainbow get Gold because its so hard to get enough themes / uma minutes in 2 years. Sounds like your DD is ready for brownies, so i would just encourage her to do her interest badges and make sure her brownie leaders know she is award-focussed so they can help her get there!

So we've found a sort of work around.

She's not done her Pot of Gold for Rainbows so she's still officially a Rainbow, so the DC has said to keep her as a Rainbow. Her place at Brownies will be saved until after Christmas and she can do a few extra trial sessions of Brownies after October half term.

If she asks we'll say due to her SN she wasn't quite ready for Brownies.