As a JW kid, did you wish you could join the girl guides/scouts? (page 2)

blondie

Even if we hadn't been jws, my parents would never have spent money on this...they wouldn't have had money to spend on their cigarettes and beer.

undercover

I didn't. I was glad to have an excuse to not join.

The last thing I wanted to do was dress up in a uniform to go camping and hiking. And having a scout leader in charge. And all the activities regimented and graded. Geez... it looked like an army for kids to me. I had enough of conforming and authority in school and at the hall, I didn't want have to deal with it while trying to have fun out in the woods.

EmergedAsMe

My "coping method" for being left out of everything, and not being able to do lots of normal childhood things was to pretend to myself that I wasn't even interested. I didn't even entertain the thought of doing birthdays, girl guides or anything else that a normal kid might say "hey I want to do that – it sounds like fun!" It was partly a JW thing, and partly a my parents personalities and partly financial.

My mother was actually a girl guide leader before she was married and became a JW. In her childhood she went right through the "brownie - guide system" and really enjoyed it - and would lament about how she would have loved us to have been able to have those experiences. I tell you what – your parents who grew up non-JW letting you know what you were missing while you are still a child really, really stinks!! I will put that down to one of those parenting moments where they just didn't think through what they were actually saying.

I am not sure if I would have enjoyed the scout/guide experience or not. But I am annoyed that a pretty standard rite of passage for many kids was denied to me because some men (that I wouldn't even recognize if I fell over them in the street) made some decision that it was not OK (along with all the rest of things that are not allowed!!)

I forgive my mother as I understand that she actually did want what was best for us. She did her job as a parent as best should could with her circumstances and she did make sure that we got wrapped presents (I have heard many say they never got to unwrap gifts), got to decorate the house around their wedding anniversary (I guess a proxy xmas), and I did get to participate in a few sports (as long as they didn't interfere with the JW thing, and my mother was always reeked with guilt over it). With the sports though I kind of fell into them (others asked me to join the team) and I never did play the sport I really wanted to.

looloo

my eldest daughter was in the rainbows when i got involved with the cult , to this day i feel so guilty that i took her out of it before she went up to brownies and remember how difficult it was trying to explain to her why i was doing it when i could not even see what was wrong with it myself , i was told by a pioneer i studied with to tell her it was because of the connection to chrisendom ! so i took her out of harmless rainbows and into "the truth" where we met her future rapist and abuser , she still crys about it now and i feel so guilty about it all , but she doesnt blame me .

cantleave

It always seemed to be fun - yes I wanted to join, but wasn't allowed.

cantleave

It always seemed to be fun - yes I wanted to join, but wasn't allowed.

RubaDub

No, never had an interest in the Boy Scouts.

The thought of having to get dressed up in a uniform to "play" was not my cup of tea as a kid.

I did want to go away to some summer camps which sounded like fun. But of course, as the son of an elder, that was a definite no-no.

Rub a Dub

As a JW kid, did you wish you could join the girl guides/scouts?

blondie

undercover

EmergedAsMe

looloo

cantleave

cantleave

RubaDub

straightshooter

RosePetal

sherah

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