When it Comes to Girl Scouts – Together Counts!

Big thank you to Together Counts and the Girl Scouts of the USA for giving the compensated opportunity to share my thoughts about the new #HealthyHabits campaign!

I think that it’s super important for kids to be active. Not just physically active, but also active in their communities, active in their world. Which is why a new partnership between the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation and the Girl Scouts makes perfect sense to me. And, as a former Girl Scout, I might be biased, but I do love the Girl Scouts. {I was a rockstar Girl Scout, and sold the most cookies in our county. Now, I eat the most Girl Scout cookies in our county. But that’s a separate blog post….} I love that it gives little girls a sense of belonging, a role model, in case they don’t have one at home, and a set of goals and adventures to embark on. {The experience stuck with me so much that about a year ago I bought You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls, which I can’t wait to finally get started on. I’ll be blogging it, don’t worry :)} And next year when Abby is old enough to start, I’ll be leading our own Daisy troop. I can’t wait! {They can become a Daisy Scout as early as Kindergarten.}

That’s my little Abby right there. Or should I say… My big Abby? I can’t believe what a grown up girl she’s gotten to be as she’s turned 4. Crazy how fast they grow up, right? I have worked from home since she was born. Which means, she’s been just kinda stuck at home with me, all day, every day, for four years. My nephews {her cousins, 9 & 11} are here every day before/after school, all summer, and sometimes more – which she loves. In summer we have lots of kids over, since we’re the only family we know with a big in-ground pool, and we love to entertain. But other than that she’s kind of bored, I think. And we don’t have a lot of good, local, affordable preschool here. So as I’m looking for new activities for her, I was super excited to find out about this cool partnership, and the free booklets you can get to help you get kids active and involved!

Girls Scouts of the USA and the Together Counts Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation have come together to create three fabulous booklets about healthy habits for volunteers to use with their Journey Adult Guides. These three Healthy Habit Journey booklets can be downloaded online:

Between Earth and Sky and Healthy Habit
Wow! Wonders of Water with Healthy Habits
Get Moving! With healthy habits!

These booklets help teach little girls a healthy way of keeping fit. That calories in need to equal calories out. Not that they need to be skinny-minis. And they all have awesome messages that empower girls. Love it. Because for girls and women, it’s really all about “energy balance” – not “getting skinny,” right?

Be sure and check out these other great resources:

There’s also an awesome Twitter party that Mom it Forward has happening on September 9th. Follow the hashtag #HeathyHabitsand #gno to meet up with us from 9-10pm EST (8CST, 7 MST, and 6 PST). Don’t miss it!