Help in Cadette Girl Scouting

I got to looking around for a discussion forum or a blog or something that I could access where I could air my frustrations and get ideas to help me with cadette girl scouts.  It is an interesting time of life.  Boys are suddenly VERY important, but the concept of how to have a relationship is still pretty vague and scary.  At the same time, the media is driving it’s message of “be sexy” at every beat of the drum.  As a Girl Scout leader and mom, that is one of the biggest battles I see in my future as well as theirs.  How do I help these girls define themselves without losing themselves?  How do I get them to listen to healthier voices instead of the bang of the media drum?  How do I get them to stop texting long enough during a meeting to be engaged??? 

I didn’t find much out there.  The blogs that I ran across in the first 3 pages were geared to specific regions or just to girls.  My local council has an area for troop and individual blogging, but I can’t figure out how to post comments and I REALLY want to be able to have some feedback and interaction.

And so here I am.  I can’t say I’ll be on top of it all the time, but I am looking forward to finding like minded folks out there.

Dealing with a Period

Periods are as unique as each individual girl.  Some girls feel great and even experience more energy and a sense of well being during their period.  Others get headaches and cramping.  They may experience depression, anger or the jitters.   I wish I were one of the first group.  Unfortunately, I’m one of the latter.  Most of the time, they are just a dull annoying ache and I am a bit on edge with my emotions.  But occasionally, I have cramps so bad I doubled over, accomanied by diarreah and naseau.  I mean who has an appetite when your uterus is trying to claw its way out like something out of Alien?

The ONLY thing that makes the bad ones feel better is a couple of Ibuprofin every 4 hours and a comfy couch with a heating pad.  Thank you God for the invention of heating pads.  The second best thing is the heat patch – heating pads that you can actually stick to you and they go where ever you go.  Those are now a must in my supply cabinet, right beside the femine napkins.

Having had many years of experience now, I pretty much know what brings on the bad ones.   It starts with being under a lot of stress with a whole lot of this and that going on.  I don’t get to the yoga routine like I should, then I start eating comfort foods instead of what is good for me.  Stress goes up because I am not taking time take care of myself.   Suddenly, the period rolls around and I am now forced to take a break, on my back, in the bed because I can’t stand to be around anyone (and no one can stand to be around me).

At that time, I get out my period care package:
My heating pad (or stick on heat)
Feminine napkins (tampons made the cramping worse)
Lots of water (to flush out the toxins)
Vitamins (to put back in what my body is taking out)
Lavendar oil (because it makes me calm and happy)
Chocolate (because it makes me calm and happy)
Hot tea (because it makes me calm and happy)

You get the idea.

What are periods like for you?  What are your tricks for getting through them?

To Blog or Not to Blog

I have been kicking this around for a while.  I talk to moms all the time that are going through the change.  Not their change, their daughter’s change.  I think we women with daughters entering puberty need our own group session to help us through this bewildering period.  But when do we have time to get together?  In between soccer, volleyball, dance lessons and girl scouts? 

Along with a feeling that I need to reach out and help my friends, I occasionally have this need to vent my frustrations at society – in particular, girl society.  I work as a programmer and my male colleagues just look a little nervous when I bring up some of these subjects in the break room.   The ones with daughters have really mixed emotions and seem to struggle between what they see as a great thing in media and what they feel about their daughters.  But that is a subject for another time.

So both of these factors have had me thinking about blogging.  I got the final nudge into the media when my office offered to support an Earth Watch fellowship.  As part of the application, I had to come up with a way to bring back what I learn from the trip and apply it to my community.  One of the first things I wanted to do is be able to reach out while I was on the trip.  Why wait till I get back?  I can start talking with girls online via a blog!  My local Girl Scout council will provide media coverage for the event and help get the information out to the troops.  I need a little more exploration on the possibility of adding video, but this is a good start.  Wish me luck on the fellowship!