Brown Owls/Brownies Leaders help me convince my DD she won’t be in trouble for this?

[BrowniesBadgesGiven]

DD aged 7, has trouble with processing and memory linked to dyslexia and dyspraxia.

She absolutely loves Brownies, lives, breathes and dreams about it. She has loads of badges already for only have done 1 and a half terms (she did a half term of Rainbows and Brownies at the same time due to the issues above).

At the Christmas party last week, they were given a small gift. According to DD they were told “Not to open them until Christmas Day”. DD is with her dad Christmas Day and doesn’t want to take the gift to her dads to open there because he never lets her bring anything home so I said we could open it Christmas Eve morning before she goes to her dads.

She’s absolutely adamant she’ll get told off for this. I don’t want to bother her leader with something so trivial as I doubt, she would get into trouble for it anyway plus DD may not believe that the message/email is from Brown Owl anyway, so can Brown Owls/Leaders help me reassure DD it’ll be fine to open Christmas Eve?

Thank you in advance as well

Hi @BrowniesBadgesGiven's DD, I used to be a Brownie leader and can assure you it is absolutely okay to open your gift on Christmas Eve. Did you know that the royal family give each other their presents on Christmas Eve and unwrap them? And Queen Elizabeth II was the Patron of the Scouting Association, so I'm 100% sure it's fine to open your present on the same day she would have done :) Enjoy!

I don't think Brown Owl would mind you asking her at all. If your daughter hears Brown Owl say "of course you can open yours on Christmas eve" it will hopefully put her mind at rest. Don't forget Brownie leaders are all volunteers, and wouldn't do it if they didn't like/ care-about children.

Hi @BrowniesBadgesGiven I’m a cub leader, and my cubs wouldn’t get into trouble either - I’d laugh

Like @SproutsAndBaubles says I was going to say there are many different traditions for present opening all through the Guiding world. Some longstanding traditions like the royal family and some new like yours where presents are spilt between mums and dads. Brownies and Guides respect and understand everyone’s traditions.

Thank you everyone but especially@SproutsAndBaubles DD absolutely loved the Queen so will be very pleased to "copy" her and open her presents Christmas eve

Your daughter’s brownie leader will absolutely not mind you contacting her - she’ll be glad to reassure your daughter that it’s absolutely fine.

If she’s really anxious and worked up about it then could you perhaps FaceTime her on Christmas Day and open it in front of her? Then she’s still abiding by the ‘rule’ and opening the gift Christmas Day.

I am certain that the Brown Owl and all the other people associated with Brownies would be perfectly happy for your DD to open her present on Christmas Eve. Would she be happier leaving it at her Mum's house-home and opening it after Christmas? Your DD sounds lovely. I recognise the ND fixating on small things, worrying about being in trouble and wanting to make sure she does the right thing.

I'm a Brownie leader, and I'm sure her leaders are the same please contact them. Text easier as they probably sorting their own lives out and explain the situation. I'm sure they would be happy to ring you/her or even just leave a voicemail explaining that she was keeping her promise but they understood that Christmas Eve was her Christmas Day with you and it completely fine.

She definitely won't get into trouble!
Bless her!

Hello @BrowniesBadgesGiven DD. I am a Brownie leader and I can tell you, you will not get into any trouble at all if you open your present on Christmas eve. Lots of Brownies and Rainbows celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve. Maybe you can see if you can find a picture of Brownies in a country that does this and see what their uniform and promise is.

@Kanaloa DD doesn't want to take it to her dads and she'd like to open it herself given it's got her name on - the lovely leaders took the time to write individual tags for each girl which was really lovely of them.

Will text Brown Owl now thank you everyone

She can open it whenever she likes!
There are no present police to check it was opened at a particular time.

I don't know what my daughter was told but she already opened her brownie Christmas present when she got home yesterday. It will be fine they will not be cross with her.

@BrowniesBadgesGiven

BBG daughter

I used to be. Guide Leader (Brownie,GG,Rangeretc etc) and I can assure you no one will mind you opening it Christmas Eve or waiting!!

They just didn't want you to spoil the surprise by opening it too soon. Christmas Eve isn't too soon!

MUMMY:

Would DD not enjoy saving it until she comes back? Something to look forward to.

her Dad needs telling that it's HER stuff not his & she can take it where SHE wants.

I am a brownie leader and we tell our girls this so that they don’t open it immediately in front of the other girls and ruin a surprise for those that want to save it. If a girl opened it before Christmas Day (if I ever found out) I would not mind in the slightest 🥰 in fact I’m giving out our presents tomorrow and now I know this may cause a worry I’ll make sure I am clear they can open it whenever they like, just wait until they’ve gone home and check with their parents/guardians first.

Bah humbug, eh?

It's nothing to you. It's a big deal to her.

Not helpful but my DD didn’t make it out of the car before ripping hers open and scoffing the contents.

I'm an owl and I know that our brown owl would absolutely not be cross or upset about this at all. I hope your dd can find peace from this bless her.

@ExtraOnions She has processing and memory issues due to dyslexia and dyspraxia, to her she has to remember not to open it before Christmas Day so it's a big deal if she "breaks" that rule.

I'm a Brown Owl and if your daughter was in my unit and you got in touch with me about this, i would write a special text or make a video to send you to show your daughter (we have a Brownie Bear teddy in our unit that would probably make an appearance too 😊). So worth letting Brown Owl know and i'm sure she'll feel the same!

So happy to have helped :)

"doesn’t want to take the gift to her dads to open there because he never lets her bring anything home"

wtf? what is he going to do with her gift from brownies while she's not there?

Dear DD.

wow what a special heart you have! How lovely that you are following the brownie promise as best as you can! I’m remaking mine tonight out of respect for our King. Speaking of, did you know the royal family open some, if not all of their gifts on Christmas Eve? So if you wanted to you could copy them! I’ve already opened a present early that I got given off one of my kids that I teach, so it is ok for you to do the same! I PROMISE your brown owl won’t be upset or disappointed or anything like that, in fact I think she’ll smile over it because she knows presents are exciting!

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas, keep being the amazing brownie that you are… and trust me when I say you are a credit to the guiding community!

From a brownie leader/commissioner somewhere in England 🥰

Brownie