In which I change lots of pronouns and call it Brownies

Because I believe this post involves someone kind of unstable, let's pretend we don't know what gender my child is and call my child a daughter and let's call my child's group Brownies, instead of the comparable group that would involve the correct gender. And let's call the person in charge the Brownie leader. And let's use "she" everywhere we would normally use another pronoun. I already have enough concerns about this individual to not want them finding this post using the appropriate terms.

So, this post will be confusing. Do your best. :)

My..ahem...daughter joined a Brownie troop at the beginning of the year. The person in charge of...her first year Brownies age group was an individual who had progressed to the highest level of the group in their childhood and was very cocky about it, and thought that made them a beacon of wisdon regarding all things Brownies. My spouse and I also assumed leadership roles in the organization. She did not have a very good rapport with the children or parents, and sent rude emails to my spouse and other members of leadership, and was very rude to me in front of other parents at one of our child's meetings.

We complained to the person who kind of oversees the volunteers to no avail. Somehow this person was promoted to the highest volunteer level...Mostly because they were the only person who wanted to do it. A parent in our group expressed concern about this person being a role model, as they clearly have a temper. We passed this along, but nothing came of it...This person had stepped up, and how do you fire a volunteer?

It all came to a head at a meeting of the volunteers. We were doing some planning, and after hearing a whole lot of "from my experience in Brownies"...and "I know what the kids like to do"...and basically a lot of hype without substance, this person asked for feedback. A few of us began sharing the concerns about the direction things were going under this new leadership. This person pointed to my spouse and me and said "The two of you have had a problem with me from day one. Even my spouse (who I've seen twice, but never even spoken too because the person is not very approachable [read: stands to the side looking angry]) notices. You undermine everything I do." I questioned the undermining, and was given no example. Some concerns were presented about the fact that the person arrives 10 minutes late at Brownie meetings and leaves the kids hanging in that manner. When that was brought up, the individual stood up, said they didn't have time for this, and walked out of the brownie meeting, and out of the Brownie group.

After a shocked pause, we got back to planning, and had the most relaxed, productive meeting we've had in months.

We later discovered that the person had "quit" before, only to apologize and say they were upset and come back. We don't know if we should expect to see this individual at Brownie meetings anymore, but I just hope whatever issue causes them to lash out at people, and flip back and forth does not go beyond what it has already...It's time for everyone to get past this so we can focus on making sure our...Brownie...group is fun and productive for the kids.

On the plus side, our child was probably not going to get to continue in...Brownies...next year because of our concerns with the leader. That concern is now gone, so our child is free to proceed with Brownies.

Thank goodness for rib cages

At soccer practice last night, my son slipped while dribbling the ball down the field during a scrimmage and ended up falling on one of the flat cones along the sideline. It looked like a pretty harmless fall, but when we got home, he had a wide scrape several inches long along his lower chest. It did not hurt much, and he took it as the proud soccer battle scar it was.

Later, after he had gone to bed, he called me into his room and said "It's a good thing we have rib cages, or I would have fallen right on my heart." Ouch. Just hearing that made me wince, and it turns out that I too am thankful for rib cages.

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We have this bluish/green headed bird group that is spending lots of time in our yard. At first I thought it was a really cool bird, then I realized it was bullying the sparrows and hogging the birdseed. By the wonders of the internet, I determined it to be a grackle. I mentioned it to a coworker, and he said grackles are known for laying their eggs in the nests of others so another bird will take care of the eggs. Wonderful. The deadbeat of birds is laying down roots in our yard.

Towels

In conversation with a friend yesterday, she mentioned that she washes her bath towels everyday. After seeing my surprised reaction, she said she has had this discussion with many friends, and she just feels they need to be washed everyday.

Since my towel is drying my clean body, I am comfortable washing each family member's bath towel about weekly. How often do you wash your bath towel?