Today is the day many people seem to wait for all year: the first day of Girl Scout Cookie sales.

My little Girl Scout (she is actually a Brownie this year) is kicking off her third year of this iconic event. Because it’s always so cold, last year I allowed her to utilize my Facebook page to sell her cookies. I would set her up, she would tap out a status update, and take orders from those who responded.  It was great. She got lots of orders, and we both stayed a lot warmer than we would have been if we pounded the pavement. Weather permitting, we’ll stop by some of the houses on our street, and she plans to ask around a bit at church and at her school, but if she can reach her goal solely by utilizing social media, then so be it!

Addie has a pretty ambitious goal this year; she is hoping to sell 500 boxes.  She’s a smart girl, this one.  The prize she wants to earn comes after selling 204 boxes, but she set her goal a little bit higher than that because she has sold more than that in the past sales.  The big prizes (a laptop or an iPad, your choice) are earned after selling a mere 3000 boxes.  Of course, she really wants her own iPad (and everything you get leading up to that prize), but even she knows that isn’t realistic.  She’ll try her best, though, and as long as she is enjoying herself, I will support her.

We all know, of course, that it’s the parents really driving these sales.  The girls can’t drive, and they are hopefully not going out unaccompanied to sell cookies in their neighborhoods; they simply would not be as successful if they did not have the assistance.  Other than my husband taking an order form to work, we expect Addie to do all the selling on her own.  She may use my Facebook page, but she types all the updates and then helps tally all the orders.  When the cookies arrive at the end of February, she will help sort everything and hand off the orders.  It’s her sale, and even though she needs assistance, she needs to learn the lessons at hand (using manners, speaking clearly to adults, collecting money, tracking her sales progress…). For me, the twinkle in her eyes when she talks about the prizes she can earn is more than enough prize for all the work I’ll put into this sale.

That, and the half dozen boxes of Thin Mints I’ll consume this spring.