<p>What is a sit upon?? <em>To the Google!</em></p>
<p>ETA: Oh… </p>
<p>lol I google’d it and got this: <a href=“http://thegypsyquilter.com/images/TheGypsyQuilter/TheGypsySitUpon4.jpg[/url]”>The Gypsy Quilter;
![http://thegypsyquilter.com/images/TheGypsyQuilter/TheGypsySitUpon4.jpg[/url]](http://thegypsyquilter.com/images/TheGypsyQuilter/TheGypsySitUpon4.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.</p>
<p>Um no
Try this
[How</a> to make a Situpon (Sit-upon) for Girl Scout](<a href=“http://www.momsminivan.com/extras/situpon.html]How”>How to Make a Situpon (Sit-upon) for Girl Scouts | MomsMinivan.com)</p>
<p>^ No, lol, I figured it out. But it still came up and ow, ow, ow. Why would someone sit on that? o.O</p>
<p>I was a Girl Scout for 8 years as a child and then a Girl Scout Leader for 12 years as an adult (for my D and her troop - yes, they stayed together for 12 years.)</p>
<p>I love so much about scouting (although that’s not where my screen name comes from!) I love how it is all about empowerment and self-leadership for girls. I love how it is welcoming to ALL girls. I really love how it is not a religious organization; I myself am a practicing Christian, but I love how scouting is not affiliated with organized religion or religious beliefs. In my D’s troop one year we had a Buddhist girl, a Muslim girl, a couple from main-line Christian denominations, and one very outspoken atheist. We had the best discussions!</p>
<p>What I don’t love about scouting (and what I don’t miss) is all the paper work and annual training involved with being a leader. For the love of —, I don’t need to take the troop camper training every year - I can make fires and tie knots!!</p>
<p>D stayed in GS until 12th grade cause the group consisted of 10 or so of her friends and the two leaders were terrific!
They camped, went to B’way, fun trips, community service, a lot of teaching to younger scouts.
However, while on the grounds of the HS, they referred to it as the ‘Save the Whales’ club in order to avoid potential teasing, etc. As in, ‘Hey don’t we have a ‘Save the Whales’ meeting after school today?’ Too funny!</p>
<p>Woody - my D and her fellow troop members did the same kind of thing! “Hey, doesn’t The Club meet at your house after school today?”</p>
<p>I always thought it odd that there was such a stigma associated with Girl Scouts and yet the stigma seemed less intense for Boy Scouts.</p>
<p>My son is an Eagle Scout, even though we both strongly oppose the BSA stance which mandates a belief in God, and outlaws participation by homosexuals. I hope I live to see the day when BSA changes those rules.</p>
<p>I have always been so proud of the Girl Scouts for not succumbing to right-wing pressure to exclude people like the Boy Scouts do.</p>
<p>^ Amen, Skyhook. I’d say, at least in my experience (albeit it’s probably biased streaming through the eyes of my gay Eagle scout best friend) that many, many Eagle Scouts and leaders dislike those requirements. It’s just those in charge.</p>
<p>OMG, I’d forgotten ALL about sit-upons!</p>
<p>I was a girl scout in grade school. Our leaders were extremely domestic, most of the activities revolved around “homemaking”.
I wasn’t really that type. But I didn’t have much choice, meetings were just on the next block & they didn’t expect my mom to do anything.</p>
<p>I tried to get a troop going at my oldests private elementary school, but very difficult to do when the other girls had gymnastics, ballet, violin, or riding lessons after school.
Y
Youngest D had a chance to join a troop however with one of the moms from preschool. They were very active & outdoorsy and it was a great outlet for her.</p>
<p>My sil is even more involved, she has been a leader since her D ( now 27) was young, and still has a troop.</p>
<p>I was not a GS as a child - never came up as an option. My daughter was a girl scout from daisies all the way through high school and completed he Gold thing. She absolutely loved it. She did have some people tease her about being in scouts as a highschooler, but she really didn’t care. Her troop did a wonderful trip to Europe and the Girl Scout Chalet in Switzerland between her Junior and Senior years of HS. I got to go as well as I somehow ended up organizing the whole thing. When people would would make comments about her being in Girl Scouts, she would just say “well, we’re going to London, Amsterdam, Cochem, (Germany), Switzerland, Venice, and Paris this summer - what are your plans?”</p>
<p>Our experience with them was wonderful. My daughter plans to be a GS leader if she ever has a daughter.</p>
<p>Proud (former) girl scout!</p>
<p>I too am thankful that the girl scouts have not given into pressure from the far-right. And I also hope to live to see the BSA change their policies. I just finished a great book by an Eagle Scout who clearly does not agree with the policies, [Zach</a> Wahls | My Two Moms](<a href=“Senator Zach Wahls | Iowa State Senate”>Senator Zach Wahls | Iowa State Senate)</p>
<p>Another proud former GS here. I stayed in until a year into Cadettes. My Mom was the leader for juniors and we did a lot of camping. My daughter did if for all twelve years but didn’t want to work for the gold award. My son was an Eagle Scout and my husband and father were both Scouts. Funny how different both organizations are. I agree with the point about BS being somehow more acceptable then GS in HS. I wonder why that is?</p>
<p>I was in Girl Scouts, 2nd through 6th grade. Our leader in 6th grade was kind of strident, and made a critical remark about the skirt I was sewing. I didn’t want to be sewing a bleeping skirt in the first place, so I quit.</p>
<p>My daughter is in 8th grade and has been in GS since 2nd grade. She is currently working on her Silver Award - her project is a school newspaper. She can’t wait to finish it and move on to the Gold Award, because she wants to find a project that will really help our community. She has a wonderful troop and leader - the girls are very supportive, and they’ve covered some important topics in their meetings.</p>
<p>My 3 youngest Ds all wanted to be brownies/girl scouts because many of their friends are involved. (Most girls drop out after 5th grade). D’s are already involved in sports or music lessons, so that is enough–I’m using the same excuse my mom used: “Why can’t I join girl scouts?” “It costs money.” Just not interested enough in scouting to invest time/money in it, though I’m sure it is fun for a lot of kids.</p>
<p>Girl Scouts is actually a very inexpensive activity. The biggest pitch I make about GS is it makes girls step outside their comfort zone and try things they would ordinarily not do, such as building a campfire. Given the inherent age progression in scouting, there are so many natural leadership opportunities that are not intimidating, as they are just showing younger girls things they already know how to do.</p>
<p>I was a Girl Scout in grade school–my troop never did any camping, which really bummed me out. We did crafty things; I also remember working on a cooking badge. I, too, made sit-upons, lanyards, and early on–potholders. I also learned how to make S’mores and a dish called Blushing Bunny. The latter was a concoction of tomato soup, American cheese, a little flour and some margarine. (I thought it was gross–but I did like the S’mores.) My daughters were Brownies–didn’t make it to Girl Scouts. They got involved in lots of other activities.</p>
<p>I was a Brownie, but at he time in my troop it was all crafty stuff - not my interest. I wanted action. I went to GS camp and remember feeling indignant that they wouldn’t let us run and one had to pass a swim test. Of course it all makes sense on the swim test, but I thought it was babyish at the time 
H was an Eagle Scout and did cool survival stuff.</p>
<p>I do think my true hate of cold swimming water began at Girl Scout camp. Seemed like my unit always had swimming pretty early in the day before it really warmed up. The lakes weren’t that great- gooey mud to get in the water and the water was COLD! We also had to take swimming tests and had colored swim caps to sort us out by level. I went through a stage in the early years where I insisted on a nose clip (clearly before my triathlon days) and so I was in a swimming group that was too easy. We seemed to focus on the “elementary backstroke”. I still despise cold water.</p>
<p>I am in the middle of reading the book “Tough Cookies: Leadership Lessons from 100 Years of the Girl Scouts” by Kathy Cloninger, former CEO of GSUSA. It is very interesting, and describes the inequality between girls and boys in media, books, society in general. GSUSA was one of the first organizations to study these inequalities with formal research.</p>
<p>The book does not claim that Girl Scouts will solve these issues, but that girls need a safe place to be become strong women with the ability to lead- not just in their Girl Scout troop, but in society, in corporate America, in government, etc.</p>