Appreciation

Girl Guides of Canada asked on Facebook "Should parents buy their daughter's Guider a holiday gift or wait until the end of the year?" Obviously, neither is required or expected - and, I'd argue, neither is a particularly good way to show appreciation. If you want to show appreciation, here's what you can do.

Drop your daughter off on time. No, not ten minutes early - at that point, I'm trying to get organized, and I don't want to entertain you or your daughter. Not even if she's really excited to be there, or you have somewhere else to be. I need a few minutes to get my head together and figure out what I forgot.

Pick up on time. If you're early, wait outside - don't disrupt the entire group. And don't be late - I want to go home and eat, because I probably didn't have time after work. (Obviously, things happen, but more than once a year is too often.)

If you have something you want to talk about, either talk to me after the meeting, or call/email a day or two before the meeting. Leaving me a message at two on the day of the meeting may not even get to me until I get home.

If you owe us money, pay promptly. I don't volunteer because I like being a bill collector.

Respect the deadlines. If camp forms/cookie orders/permission slips are due on a certain date, don't show up two weeks later with them. 

Help where you can. Be the person who volunteers when we need a hand, and then follow through without needing a reminder.

Get your daughter there. When she isn't allowed to come because she's grounded or you dont feel like driving her, it's a hassle - we've bought supplies we don't need, or she won't be ready to do the next part of whatever we're working on so we have to spend extra time catching her up. She'll miss some due to illness or other commitments - don't add to it if you don't have to.

Show her that you're proud of her. I see girls achieve amazing things every year, and it's sad when their parents don't recognize that.

That's what I want for Chrjstmas.