Brownies & Guides & Guiding JOY!
I love my Brownies. I love my Guides. And my Brownie Unit Team are utterly fabulous. Oh yes...
At Brownies this evening they were doing more First Aid. They are all very keen, which is rather splendid. Tylluan had them talking about blood & bandaging, with Blackbird to demonstrate the latter on, while Barn Owl & Spectacled Owl talked through burns & scalds. Little Owl was supervising those not thus occupied as they played on the carpark, with Swallow swooping about in her new turquoise t-shirt. I think she will make a very good YL & have said she can start coming to planning meetings if she wants to - I can accompany her to wherever they're being held & I know her parents so it will all be fine. I was thinking I might try and get her up to CHQ at some point - possibly by offering to take her shopping or to do something "fun" as well, just so she can see what's there & have a look at the Senior Section resources in the members area... *strokes imaginary beard thoughtfully* Oh, and before anyone leaps about over Safe From Harm, the small bird in question is a family friend, basically - our fathers go to the pub together etc etc - and she is also now a Senior Section member... Anyhow, yes, while all this was going on I was catching up on admin bits & speaking to various Brownies, including OB & MS who're due to go up to Guides in September. They are very excited by the idea they'll be doing some special bits of their own next half term and were looking rather self-important on their stilts when I left them... I also showed the article about the Brownies to the girls, and they were very excited. Swallow & Blackbird were also suitably excited by the wee bit saying "additional reporting by Xanthe Grey", which cheered me immensely.
Guides was incredibly fine. We started off with the film cannister rockets, which caused much excitement on the part of the Guides. Then we had a discussion about totalitarianism, democracy, and what they would do if Guiding was made illegal in the UK. I'd made a poster with various bits of information & examples of what other Guides had done when Guiding was illegal in their country in all of about three minutes this afternoon and the Guides
discussed it amongst themselves & came up with a list of their ideas. Some of them said they'd be too scared to carry on, which is perfectly reasonable, but lots of them were evolving quite complex plans that would allow them to carry on as Guides. GB, who is incredibly splendid & Rosie's-seventies-throwback, said she thought that the Belgian Guider who kept her Promise badge throughout her time in a concentration camp, was really inspirational & that it was amazing she managed to & really good Guiding had meant so much to her. Lots of them were very thoughtful, which is part of the reason they're such a pleasure to work with.
For a break from seriosity we then had a chopstick relay, transferring chickpeas from one bowl to another in a certain amount of time; before going on to talking about beauty, body image, and the perfect woman. The Guides came up with some good stuff in this activity - one group had picked an entire range of women as perfect; another had picked people who looked happy, because they thought that was the most important thing; another had decided they all had such different ideas they were going to do a picture each; and the last group had picked lots of people because they were nice, they didn't just look it. They were all being very thoughtful and RC-B pointed out without prompting that the perfect woman isn't a physical thing - a woman isn't just a body. Splendacious. They were also all very much in agreement that there's no such thing and that the way we look isn't actually that important as who we are not how we appear is what matters. They were thoughtful, they engaged, they worked really well on it. They are intelligent and lots of them are articulate - and all of them have excellent points to put across, even if they sometimes need help to articulate/express themselves fully. As a treat we got some Chinese takeaway to have at the end of the meeting, which made them very happy Guides indeed. And they all said thank you. I will never tire of people being polite and considerate.
The Guiders, for their part, were wonderful. I am so so lucky to have such a brilliant team to Guide with. Because we do work as a team. It was late Wednesday night when we learnt we were running the meeting, but we got an entire programme sorted, everyone brought what they were supposed to, and both meetings went really well. Everyone is so enthusiastic, even when they're dead tired, and everyone has a whole range of skills, knowledge and experience to share. I feel like I can really depend on my Guiders to do what they've said they will. Katie does oceans of printing & willingly takes on the less exciting jobs; Kitty has done heaps of shopping for resources the last few weeks - and mostly for the Guides, not even for the Brownies! and has been fantastic at teaching First Aid; Michelle is unfailingly enthusiastic & is going to make a BRILLIANT teacher one of these days; Jess is always ready to leap in and look things up and work things out and has some fab ideas; and Pim is always working to make things easier for the rest of us where she can. In fact, to be honest, all of these apply to pretty much everyone equally. Guiding is so much more fun when the adults you're Guiding with are a) good company and b) good Guiders and my Owls are both those things. It makes me very happy.
I got in & filled myself full of drugs while having a chat with my brother, who I then (finally) showed how to use my EpiPen, with the trainer... I am awfully sleepy, but the Diet Coke I was drinking to keep me awake for Brownies & Guides seems to be still working now. Pants. And possibly poo.
At Brownies this evening they were doing more First Aid. They are all very keen, which is rather splendid. Tylluan had them talking about blood & bandaging, with Blackbird to demonstrate the latter on, while Barn Owl & Spectacled Owl talked through burns & scalds. Little Owl was supervising those not thus occupied as they played on the carpark, with Swallow swooping about in her new turquoise t-shirt. I think she will make a very good YL & have said she can start coming to planning meetings if she wants to - I can accompany her to wherever they're being held & I know her parents so it will all be fine. I was thinking I might try and get her up to CHQ at some point - possibly by offering to take her shopping or to do something "fun" as well, just so she can see what's there & have a look at the Senior Section resources in the members area... *strokes imaginary beard thoughtfully* Oh, and before anyone leaps about over Safe From Harm, the small bird in question is a family friend, basically - our fathers go to the pub together etc etc - and she is also now a Senior Section member... Anyhow, yes, while all this was going on I was catching up on admin bits & speaking to various Brownies, including OB & MS who're due to go up to Guides in September. They are very excited by the idea they'll be doing some special bits of their own next half term and were looking rather self-important on their stilts when I left them... I also showed the article about the Brownies to the girls, and they were very excited. Swallow & Blackbird were also suitably excited by the wee bit saying "additional reporting by Xanthe Grey", which cheered me immensely.
Guides was incredibly fine. We started off with the film cannister rockets, which caused much excitement on the part of the Guides. Then we had a discussion about totalitarianism, democracy, and what they would do if Guiding was made illegal in the UK. I'd made a poster with various bits of information & examples of what other Guides had done when Guiding was illegal in their country in all of about three minutes this afternoon and the Guides
discussed it amongst themselves & came up with a list of their ideas. Some of them said they'd be too scared to carry on, which is perfectly reasonable, but lots of them were evolving quite complex plans that would allow them to carry on as Guides. GB, who is incredibly splendid & Rosie's-seventies-throwback, said she thought that the Belgian Guider who kept her Promise badge throughout her time in a concentration camp, was really inspirational & that it was amazing she managed to & really good Guiding had meant so much to her. Lots of them were very thoughtful, which is part of the reason they're such a pleasure to work with.
For a break from seriosity we then had a chopstick relay, transferring chickpeas from one bowl to another in a certain amount of time; before going on to talking about beauty, body image, and the perfect woman. The Guides came up with some good stuff in this activity - one group had picked an entire range of women as perfect; another had picked people who looked happy, because they thought that was the most important thing; another had decided they all had such different ideas they were going to do a picture each; and the last group had picked lots of people because they were nice, they didn't just look it. They were all being very thoughtful and RC-B pointed out without prompting that the perfect woman isn't a physical thing - a woman isn't just a body. Splendacious. They were also all very much in agreement that there's no such thing and that the way we look isn't actually that important as who we are not how we appear is what matters. They were thoughtful, they engaged, they worked really well on it. They are intelligent and lots of them are articulate - and all of them have excellent points to put across, even if they sometimes need help to articulate/express themselves fully. As a treat we got some Chinese takeaway to have at the end of the meeting, which made them very happy Guides indeed. And they all said thank you. I will never tire of people being polite and considerate.
The Guiders, for their part, were wonderful. I am so so lucky to have such a brilliant team to Guide with. Because we do work as a team. It was late Wednesday night when we learnt we were running the meeting, but we got an entire programme sorted, everyone brought what they were supposed to, and both meetings went really well. Everyone is so enthusiastic, even when they're dead tired, and everyone has a whole range of skills, knowledge and experience to share. I feel like I can really depend on my Guiders to do what they've said they will. Katie does oceans of printing & willingly takes on the less exciting jobs; Kitty has done heaps of shopping for resources the last few weeks - and mostly for the Guides, not even for the Brownies! and has been fantastic at teaching First Aid; Michelle is unfailingly enthusiastic & is going to make a BRILLIANT teacher one of these days; Jess is always ready to leap in and look things up and work things out and has some fab ideas; and Pim is always working to make things easier for the rest of us where she can. In fact, to be honest, all of these apply to pretty much everyone equally. Guiding is so much more fun when the adults you're Guiding with are a) good company and b) good Guiders and my Owls are both those things. It makes me very happy.
I got in & filled myself full of drugs while having a chat with my brother, who I then (finally) showed how to use my EpiPen, with the trainer... I am awfully sleepy, but the Diet Coke I was drinking to keep me awake for Brownies & Guides seems to be still working now. Pants. And possibly poo.