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More than cookies: Mother, daughter share experiences of selling Girl Scout Cookies
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As a Girl Scout, Mary Heslop made a personal goal to sell 500 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. Now, Heslop, a teacher from Orem, recently helped pick up the nearly 25,000 boxes her daughters' Girl Scouts troop is planning to sell this year.

The Girl Scout Cookie season is in full swing as orders were collected from Jan. 18 to Feb. 7. The preordered cookies are being delivered through March 11, and cookie booths will be open March 11-27.

The cookie craze began in 1917, when a small group of Oregon-based Girl Scouts organized a bake sale at their local high school, according "How the Girl Scouts Built Their $700 Million Dollar Cookie Empire" on NBCNews.com. Throughout the decades, cookie sales gained momentum, turning into a $700-million-dollar industry, according to the article.

Heslop participated in Girl Scouts from 1985 to 1998, and her mother was her Girl Scouts troop leader. She said her mom would often use the money the troop raised for trips for the girls. It was these trips, she said, that kept her involved in scouting and inspired her love for travel.

We went to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, and we would camp. We would go to a local amusement park called the Holiday World. We went to the Smoky Mountains one year, and we went camping and we went whitewater rafting, Heslop said. And so it was really the trips and the experiences that really kept me in Girl Scouts.

As a teenager, she applied and was chosen to go on a backpacking trip through Europe and to travel to Mexico to visit with Girl Scouts internationally. She got a job and paid for the trips nearly all on her own.

Heslop said her experiences as a Girl Scout impacted her deeply and that she wants the same or even better experiences to be available to her daughters, 12-year-old Gloria and 6-year-old Olive.

The Heslops take their cookie-selling seriously, but so does the rest of their troop. On Feb. 27, Glorias troop picked up nearly 25,000 boxes of cookies. The quantity is relatively common for them.

I think in our troop alone, we have three or four girls that sell as least 2,500 boxes, Mary Heslop said.

Heslop said selling cookies is not really a hobby for Gloria, who plans to sell 3,000 boxes this year, but rather is more like a personal business. She estimated Gloria has about 1,500 repeat customers who expect her to come to their door.

The first Saturday of cookie sales, shes knocking on doors from nine in the morning to nine at night, Heslop said.

Rachel Thiesfeld, marketing communications specialist for a regional Girl Scouts office, said the girls are expected to learn five skills from the cookie-selling process: goal setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics.

So its more than just knocking on doors and selling cookies, Thiesfeld said. These girls are building real-world skills that they can take to other applications.

Gloria said she has gained an appreciation for hard work through her cookie sales.

Theyve opened my eyes to the struggle of hardworking people, like my mom, Gloria said. It just gives you an opportunity to see what life is like outside of school.

Heslop said one of the biggest changes in the Girl Scouts program is how the money earned from cookie sales is distributed. Today, girls can earn prizes relative to how many boxes they sell. For example, she said, the Girl Scouts could earn a badge for selling 35 boxes. For 1,000 boxes, girls can go on a free trip to Lagoon, and for 2,500, they can earn a tablet or headphones.

The troop got a portion of the cookie sales, but as a girl, I never saw any as an individual, Heslop said. I got a T-shirt, and that was the cool thing then.

In her daughters' troop, each girl is awarded cookie credits and activity credits relative to what she earns.

Its just like paper play money, but they can use it for Girl Scouts-sponsored events or at the Girl Scouts shop, she said.

Gloria said it feels good to be able to choose how she spends the credits she earns. She recently signed up for three weeks of summer camp, paying for the $1,000 camps registration fees aside using the activity credits shes earned selling cookies.

Through cookie sales, each troop earns money, too. Glorias troop has been saving to take a trip to Savannah, Georgia, to visit the place where Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts program.

Heslop said shes seen the programs and activities the Girl Scouts are involved with each week develop over time.

The patch programs the girls go through, theyve significantly changed, but theyve changed for the better because theyre working on things that the girls need in their lives right now, Heslop said. When I was a girl, we were working on things that we needed then, but its much different now.

She said many of the skills she learned were domestic; she remembers a lot of troops learning how to sew, and her mother, who was their troop leader, liked to craft.

Most weeks that I can remember, we were doing some kind of craft, lots and lots of crafts, Heslop said. I still have a couple of Christmas ornaments we made.

Heslop said Girl Scouts today are learning practical skills such as budgeting and that shes seen a lot of sciences being taught as well.

The Girl Scouts programs are placing a greater emphasis on STEM science, technology, engineering and math activities, Thiesfeld said. She said the programs have changed over time along with the interests of the girls.

Heslop said shes seen the Girl Scouts program have an impact on her throughout her life as its prepared her to take on management roles.

I think for me personally, the biggest thing that I took away was that I could be a leader, she said. It taught me skills and it brought out my personality so I could do things that I dont know if I necessarily would have done before.

Gloria said she has gained confidence to be who she is no matter what other people want or think.

A Girl Scout is someone thats empowered and can just be herself, she said.

In 1912, Low began the Girl Scouts program to help girls develop greater courage, confidence and character, according to the history on the Girl Scouts website at girlscouts.org. Three million girls are currently enrolled in the program, and over 59 million alumnae having graduated, according to the history.

Its not all about selling cookies, Heslop said. Thats what a lot of people believe, but its so much more than that.
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How to avoid 'sharenting' and other paparazzi parenting habits
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A recent study revealed parents often spend up to two hours staging a single photo of his or her child to post online. - photo by Amy Iverson
Before having kids, some people just dont appreciate their friends baby posts. But after having a child of their own, three fourths of new parents jump right on the parental social media bandwagon. If you have become a member of this group, there are some rules to follow for posting responsibly.

Much of a parents worry is how to teach their children to use social media responsibly. We talk with our kids about privacy, oversharing, and setting restrictions on their devices to keep them safe. But parents themselves need to look in the digital mirror once in a while. Before having children, it doesnt take as much effort to think about what to post online. Its up to us to decide what we share about our own lives. But once you become a parent, there are many questions to think about regarding what is appropriate to post about your kids on social media.

In a recent survey, kids clothing subscription company Mac and Mia surveyed 2000 new parents to find out how they are documenting their kids lives on social media, and what concerns they may have.

First of all, people without children seem to feel a bit differently about the onslaught of baby pictures online than those who are parents. 18 percent of people say before they had kids, they were annoyed by their friends baby posts. But after having children of their own, 73 percent admit they post progress pictures of their little ones every single month.

Not only are new parents letting the world know each time their baby is a month older, but they are posting about their kids every few days or so. Men and women report they post 6-7 times per month about their baby.

And while 70 percent of new parents say the benefit of using social media is how easy it is to help family and friends feel involved, there are some downsides. Here are a few tips to avoid the pitfall of becoming paparazzi parents.

Dont miss the moment

In the Mac and Mia survey, some parents admitted to spending up to two hours to get the perfect shot of their baby. That seems a little extreme. New and old parents alike should be careful about spending so much time taking pictures and videos that they dont enjoy the moment. Years ago, I decided to never live an experience through my phone. A study by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, found that when people took pictures of objects in an art museum, they didnt remember the objects as well as if they simply observed them.

This photo-taking impairment effect can happen to parents as well. If we are so consumed by getting the perfect photo, we can miss out on the moment all together, and our memory of it will suffer.

Dont forget about privacy

60 percent of couples say they have discussed rules and boundaries for posting their babys photos, according to the Mac and Mia survey. Even so, men are 34 percent more likely to publish baby posts on public accounts. If parents are concerned about their childrens privacy, keeping photos off of public accounts is a given.

In the Washington Post, Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, and Bahareh Keith, a Portland pediatrician, wrote that sharing too much information about kids online puts them at risk. They write that all that sharenting can make it easier for data thieves to target out kids for identity theft. Check that your privacy settings are where they should be and never share identifying information like full names and birth dates.

Dont be paparazzi parents

36 percent of parents say they take issue when their childs photo is posted online by someone else. Responsible social media users will always ask permission before posting a photo of another child. But parents should also think about whether their own children will take issue with their own posted photos a few years down the road.

When parents are constantly snapping pictures and throwing them on social media, it can be easy to forget to pause and make sure the post is appropriate. I always use the billboard example with my kids. I ask them to picture whatever they are posting going up on a billboard in our neighborhood. If they are okay with that, then their post is probably fine. Parents should ask themselves this same question when posting about their children. But they should also ask themselves if their child would be OK with this post on a billboard in 15 years. If it would cause embarrassment or humiliation, it might be best to keep it private.

Once children reach an appropriate age, parents should include them in the process of deciding what pictures are OK to post. Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 10- to 17-year-olds and found children believe their parents should ask permission more than parents think they should. The kids in the survey said sharing happy family moments, or accomplishments in sports, school and hobbies is fine. But when the post is negative (like when a child is disciplined) or embarrassing (think naked baby pictures or messy hair), kids say to keep it off social media.
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