Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have both kids in Boy Scouts since they have a girls pack/troop now.

+1 My daughter loves it, prefers the outdoors focus.

+2

OP here. When one says some boy scout troop allows girls, are we talking about cub scout or boy scout? I believe cub scout is under boy scout BSA organization. I have gone to the cub scout recruitment meeting, there's mostly boys there. The one I had attended last time had one den for each grade. I am not an organized person, it will be too challenging for me to mange 2 separate den in a pack meeting, and take them to separate den meeting. There could be conflict of schedules.

I am not into selling cookies either, but if I do that, I do that for DD. I am willing to pay more donations.

Boy Scouts requires much more parent participation than Girl Scouts, but based on your description, it sounds like your son needs it more than your daughter needs Girl Scouts (I say this as a huge proponent of Girl Scouts - I have only girls, no boys). If your local Boy Scout troop allows girls, then you can have them both join the same group. I think Boy Scouts is a multi-age organization?

The quality of both organizations is going to depend on the local adult volunteers.

But cub Scouts does have the advantage that you could enroll both kids, and hopefully take them to the same place at the same time. (Whether the den meetings are coordinated is, again, dependent on the volunteers for that unit).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have both kids in Boy Scouts since they have a girls pack/troop now.

+1 My daughter loves it, prefers the outdoors focus.

Yes, it's a great organization for girls with that particular interest. Our local Girls Scouts never camp and my DD wasn't interested in selling cookies etc. But if your kid isn't into outdoors activities, then definitely not.

My 6th grader is in an incredibly well-run troop, ymmv. Gearing up for another camping trip this weekend.

BSA is sick a terrible organization

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to hear how much boy scouts costs at a halloween party over the weekend.

Ours is $175 for a school year? The cheapest by far.


Sign both kids up for cub scouts.

GS costs $25 / year. I thought they said $350 at the party, but I can't recall if that included uniform or not - and IDK if it varies by den. I don't recall paying that much when my son was in, but I literally cannot remember what I paid. There was more parent involvement required for BS than GS, also. I have current GS, but I haven't had a BS in 6 years so my info may be outdated.

The $25 for Girl Scouts is just to be able to be a member. Then if your troop doesn’t sell enough cookies, fundraisers, etc. you’re going to have to fund your activities, field trips, camping trips, etc. I easily spent about 300 a year when my daughter was in Girl Scouts. Gladly, though it was an amazing experience.

We have one in each and have parent friends that are in various girl and boy scout troops around the area. I'd pick Girl Scouts because they are a MUCH better run organization. YMMV depending on the specific troop but they seem way more organized, more financially secure, and have had less scandals. For additional context, I'm a man so it's not even based on my gender bias.

Anonymous wrote:We have both kids in Boy Scouts since they have a girls pack/troop now.

+1 My daughter loves it, prefers the outdoors focus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to hear how much boy scouts costs at a halloween party over the weekend.

Ours is $175 for a school year? The cheapest by far.


Sign both kids up for cub scouts.

GS costs $25 / year. I thought they said $350 at the party, but I can't recall if that included uniform or not - and IDK if it varies by den. I don't recall paying that much when my son was in, but I literally cannot remember what I paid. There was more parent involvement required for BS than GS, also. I have current GS, but I haven't had a BS in 6 years so my info may be outdated.

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked to hear how much boy scouts costs at a halloween party over the weekend.

Ours is $175 for a school year? The cheapest by far.


Sign both kids up for cub scouts.

I was shocked to hear how much boy scouts costs at a halloween party over the weekend.

We have both kids in Boy Scouts since they have a girls pack/troop now.

Has either child expressed an interest in scouts?

Both DS and DD are in after school program, sport (rec soccer for DS & gymnastic for DD), language school & seasonal swimming classes. DH has a demanding job working with odd schedules, and I could say I am the sole caregiver for kids. I work full time with some tight deadline. I would love to enroll DS in cub scout or DD in girl scout, I can't manage to do both because time is not allowed. I lean towards doing girl scout for DD for more mother and daughter time and I hear girl friendship will get more complicated over time. I think DD may benefit from girl scout more in the long run, and she is in K. K is the best timing to join girl scout for possible long term friendship development. DS missed the best timing to join due to covid, and he is 3rd grader. I am not even sure if 3rd grade is kind of late to join.

If I do so, I have some mom guilt for DS because he does not have close friends at school. It seems like I take away the opportunities for him to develop friendship outside school. Both cub scout and girl scout need parent participation, they are not drop off only. Both kids are social, extrovert, immature and not athletic. DS loves outdoor and has endless energy, so his summer camps are all outdoors with water time, rock climbing, ziplining etc. DD does a lot better at indoor summer camp with some art/craft/activities, and a few hours of outdoor time. I am still undecided to make a choice. If you were me, which one would you pick?

Thank you.