Re: Am I crazy?
(no name) ((no email))
Mon, 22 Jan 1996 00:12:05 -0600
Lisa wrote:
>When we did a brainstorming session earlier in the year it was unanimous
>that the girls wanted to go to a mall.
Great! Take them, Lisa!
>I personally wanted to turn it
>into more of an event then taking a bunch of girls to spend their money.
Please don't do this...(I can hear Jessiann in the background yelling "this is
coming from the person that turns EVERY trip into an educational lesson??").
This is one of the true beauties of belonging to a "group". If you cheat them
out of deciding on something like this, they'll think that you have "other
reasons"
for making them go through the brainstorming session and next time, you
won't get
the results you recieved this time...just "what you think they should do".
>I suggested we then look in the patch book and see what we could
>accomplish while we were at the mall, and go downtown to the big mall
>(tourist mall) and enjoy lunch and the beautiful decorations for Xmas and
>the live musical entertainment they had every day. Well, here's what has
>happened. We found they could do an activity from the Fashion, Clothing
>and Design Interest Patch. They have to comparison shop on 5 items.
>That's fine. Only we couldn't all find a date before Xmas so we are going
>tomorrow. (We were supposed to go on MLK day, but canceled due to snow.)
>
>They want to walk the 3 floor mall in buddies, which is ok with me, as
>long as we meet at agreed upon intervals. The thing that upset me is...
>we were setting the times, meeting at 9:30am, half hour to the mall, I
>figured 3-4 hours to shop was plenty. The other leaders agreed on being
>home at 3:30pm! I think approx. 10 girls let loose in a mall for 4 hours
>is rediculous.
Not really...from personal experience as a father and as a husband, you can
pretty well count on "window shopping" taking any time from two to five
hours, with
breaks for food, rest, and "discussing fittings" (whatever *that* entails).
My daughter Amanda, the last time Jessi and I took her to the Mall, took her
sweet
time in EACH AND EVERY STORE looking at clothing that she and her stepmother
thought
"would be nice to wear". So, I can see the time period being elongated for this
activity. Again, don't sweat the small stuff, Lisa...they CHOSE to do this.
Aside
from some safety guidance, let them spend as much time as they wish.
Remember, they
WILL be going to school on Tuesday, and when they do, part of their conversation
with others will be "going to the mall with the Scouts" (except it will be
"going to
the Mall with Steph and Mary...they're both in my Scout group, and it was really
rad to go to the Mall and this is what we saw and .....")
> Then I suggested we limit the amount of money to money for
>lunch and about $20 or so to spend. I stated I did not want to be
>responsible for girls carrying a ton of money. Again I was out voted, one
>leader's daughter saying you can't even buy a blouse for $20. The other
>leaders said as, long as they carry their own money and are responsible for
>it.
Girls and young women go to the mall with very large sums of money. My only
recommendation is that instead of having the girls to carry the money
around, to
go to the Mall office and have them to convert the money into gift
certificates instead. In this way, they have to think a LITTLE about what
they spend their money
on, and more importantly, if by some chance they do get their purses taken
while there
(you did mention that this was a "tourist mall"), they would be able to
trace the
certificates and get their money back. Most mall merchants accept the
certificates and they can be printed in just about any denomination neccessary.
>Am I that far off base? Have they forgotten what we are supposed to be
>teaching the girls?
But you ARE teaching them, Lisa, you ARE. You're teaching them how to come
to a decision as a group, how to plan their visit, and how to carry it out.
You've also
given them some confidence that everything they choose to do won't be
automatically
"ruled out" by you and the other leaders just because "it's not a girl
scouting thing" or "you won't get a badge for doing this". One meeting a
quarter with my Troop was spent at the bowling alley at the end of town. No
real program, just go in, put your shoes on, and bowl. Those that didn't
want to bowl played the juke box and sat and talked or played pool or arcade
games. They could even bring their family and friends as long as they
brought their own money. Nobody left before the end of the Troop meeting
period, and we held a short opening and closing ceremony at the alley to
remind them that they were participating in a Scouting activity. It became
one of the Troop's
membership attraction and retention tools, and it was something that I HAD
NO PART IN
PLANNING. They wanted to go. I just made the parameters neccessary for
them to go
and do something "Scouting" (each patrol had to decide what they chose to do
and to submit a plan).
> To top it off, I AM NOT A SHOPPER! It will be a long day.
Take a book, or go to one of the bookstores in the mall and find a book that
you
always wanted to read (or start). Go to the center of the mall, and park at
the
one of the benches and read and enjoy the afternoon. Stop by one of those
audio/video
places and watch some TV, and explain to the salesman that "I'm just looking".
I'm not much of a bowler, but I love the arcade game "Galaxia" (the one in
which you
shoot down an assortment of space vehicles). With a cup of coffee, I can
quickly be
lost in a long game...as long as the quarters hold out!
When the girls see that you too, are having a good time (even if it's faked,
Lisa),
they will be encouraged that their time thinking this up was well-spent.
And who knows, they may decide that FOUR HOURS is TOO LONG a time to do
"mall shopping" (especially when the money's all gone!)
You're not crazy...you're a Scouter!! *laughter*
Tell us please what happened!!!
Settummanque!
(MAJ) Mike L. Walton (Settummanque, the blackeagle) (
co-Owner, Blackeagle Servics of Kentucky (502.826.7046) __)_
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