Girl Scout Cookie Season

 We all know about the holiday season and every parent and teacher knows about Summer Vacation, though each may look upon it from varying viewpoints, but in a house that holds a Girl Scout, Cookie Season is REAL.  My oldest started to sell cookies at age 6 or 7 and with 5 years between our girls and only 14 years between our youngest and first grandchild, my husband and I have been Cookie Boothing with the girls and their troops for over 20 years with only a couple of years off.  We've gone from having the cute little Brownie who could make change and caught a lot of customers just because she could, through the bargaining with our oldest at 18 to cover one or two of her sister's booth in our place to our current motivated seller who sells more cookies than I ever thought possible granddaughter.  I should be support staff right now, bringing meals, swapping out dry warm outerwear for the stuff that got wet at the first booth of the day, but with her lofty goals and her mom's two-job work schedule, Grandma (and Grandpa) are on the hook to sit and booth in the rain, snow, sleet, wind and cold.  We do it for the girl.  For the experience the actual selling brings and the opportunities the fundraising gives her.  You can't put a price on any of that.  However, the reality of Cookie Season is exhausting to contemplate.  It mean teaching my 4/5 year olds all day, coming home, preparing a dinner to go, picking up the Girl Scout from school, making sure we both have all the possibly needed attire for the ever changing weather, making sure either we have or the partner seller has the cookies, the table, the signs, the table covering and money.  Then off we go for our weeknight 2 hour shift (typically 6-8 p.m.), eating dinner on the way.  Aftewards the cookies and table, money and such have to be turned in to the Blessed Cookie Mom who deserves all the acknowledgement in the world of Girl Scouts, only to do it all over again the very next day.  I enjoy cooking.  I'll be honest though, cooking everyday can be a chore.  Trying to cook healthy meals, that everyone can eat with all their food allergies and dietary restrictions (why take-out is not an option and neither is pre-made meals from the store) in the 30 minutes between coming home from work and having to pick up from school and head to boothing is daunting to say the least.  As I am cleaning up from the holiday season, preparing to return to school after break and watching Cookie Season begin, I feel a little dread at the thought of all of this Cookie Boothing starting in just one short month.  This being said, I am not one to wallow in dread.  I am a doer.  I like solutions and the internet if full of things to try I haven't.  I already meal plan and shop weekly.  I have even gotten down storing a few meals in my freezer for lunches or those last minute I need a quick dinner and my plan isn't going to work today days.  In preparation for Cookie Season, I am stockpiling those make ahead freezer meals.  Last year we boothed most weeknights and multiple ones on the weekends.  It was a lot.  This year, the Blessed Cookie Mom eliminated Girl Scout meeting night and two other nights of the week due to personal committments on her part, so we're down to two weeknights and the weekend.  That is potentially doable.  This week, the girl scout and her mom are traveling, so that opened up a week of premade Costco and Sams Club meals (baked Mac N Cheese, Chicken Pot Pie, Lasagna, and pizza along with a side salad each night if anyone wants to know)  for me and Grandpa so I can devote my cooking time to make-ahead Cookie Season meals.  I got a lot of these meals from another website, but will share them as I make them here on the blog.  As you settle in with your sleeve of Thin Mints later this year, remember all the work and preparation that goes into the sales and know you are contributing to the experience and opportunities for each girl who sells them to you.  Thank you for supporting Girl Scouts.