Meeting Nineteen

Guess what today was?!  Our first official meeting where we earned one of our petals!!  If you don't know me, then you don't know that I'm the adult who really does clap and jump up and down when we do exciting things like this (yes, I can be annoying like that).  Today, we worked on the petal honest and fair.

First up though, to start out our meeting, we talked about Thinking Day.  Though it was yesterday and we already had our fair, we still wanted to touch on it.  So, how do you bring Thinking Day down to the level of a kindergartner and first grader?  Tell them what they would be called as Girl Guides in other countries of course!    Seriously, I'm a little jealous of other guides because they have some of the cutest names!  If we lived in Canada, my daughter would be a spark.  I mean how stinkin' cute is that?!  If she lived in England, she would be a Rainbow.  Obviously, Daisies are named for our amazing founder, but I can't help but envy guides in other countries.  The girls thoroughly enjoyed it though.  Some of them were a bit perplexed by being called a Bulbul or Beaver Guide, but Sunflower seemed to also be a hit.

Our discussion was followed by the reading of Lupe's Story from the Daisy Girl Guide's book.  On a more local version of Thinking Day, I asked where Lupine's were from (I might have gotten it wrong, but I said they were from Texas, since most of them could relate to Lupe looking a but like Bluebonnets).  In the story, Lupe's friends all wanted to play different games, and so they did, which worked out perfectly for us.

Our first activity was Duck, Duck, Goose.  I happen to have a handy dandy game book.  It was written/geared towards Girl Scouts too, so was perfect us, especially because it had the rules.  To keep the girls "honest," we asked them to explain the rules, and then began playing.  A few turns in, we pointed out the "wrong" things they had been doing and read the rules, so we could keep it "fair."  Between that, I threw in my own little twist.  When I got goosed, instead of saying duck, duck, I started saying the names of fruits, vegetables and farm animals.  They all though it was funny, and didn't realize it wasn't "fair" until I pointed it out.  Our rule book also told us that we all had to be sitting cross-legged.  To be fair, we told the girls wearing skirts and dresses they could sit on the knees.  It was interesting.  Each turn, if one girl was not being "fair," we asked her to be "honest" and own up to her mistake.  It was also a lesson in humility, but those smart cookies caught on fast.

For our second activity, we took a water break.  I know what your thinking, what the heck does this have to do with being honest and fair?!  Everything!!!  We had some Dixie cups left over from Thinking Day.  I made a batch of Gatorade with my husband's stash of Gatorade powder and threw the two things in my bag.  I asked all of the girls to line.  One by one I gave them each a cup.  As I gave them a cup, I asked them to then go to the end of the line.  They all kept their order, so it my next point of being honest was a bit moot.  From there, I then poured Gatorade for them.  After I poured, I asked them to go to the end of the line, but not to drink any yet.  Here's the twist- some of them got a trickle while others got their cups filled.  It didn't take them very long to figure it out, and they called me out on my unfairness.  I let the girls with filled cups gulp it down and had the girls with very little come get more.

Up next was Mother May I?  Just like with duck, duck, goose, we talked about the rules and then started playing.  The girls had to be honest about how many steps or hops they took, and if they weren't being fair, they had to go back to the starting line.  Once we had all had a go, we busted out the rule book and did the same thing to keep us all honest and fair.

Overall, I think our first petal went well.  Even before we presented them with our game choices, they asked to play Red Rover, yet again.  I'm beginning to regret playing that during Meeting Three since it keeps coming back to haunt us.