by Kate Hayes,
It all started innocently enough. A note came home with my daughter from school: “Does your child want to join Girl Scouts this year? If so, please come to an informational meeting at this date and time…”
My daughter Anna is five years old. I asked her if she would like to be a Girl Scout, thinking that she would have NO idea what that was. Her immediate response was definite and exuberant. “Oh yes, yes, yes, YES!!! PLEEEEEEASE can I be a Girl Scout???”
“What do you know about Girl Scouts?” I asked her.
“Ummm…nothing. But I THINK it’s just like Bunny Scouts on Max and Ruby. And Bunny Scouts get to go on nature walks and earn badges and sell cookies and go camping and IT’S SO MUCH FUN!”
Yeah, it’s totally the same thing. Man, the things they pick up from watching preschool cartoons!
I went to the meeting. So did my friend Jane, whose daughter is the same age. We were very interested to hear about the opportunities that Girl Scouts had in store for our dainty Daisys-to-be. And we did hear about those things. The one thing we didn’t expect to hear was, “So….two mothers need to sign up to be troop leaders or your daughters won’t have a troop to join.”
Silence.
“Anyone?”
More silence. Our eyes darted from mom to mom, as we waited to see who the lucky ladies would be.
“Well…I guess there may not be a kindergarten troop this year…”
“I-I-I wouldn’t mind being the troop leader,” some compassionate woman quietly piped up, obviously thinking of her young daughter’s disappointment.
“I’d be willing to help too,” another brave soul kindly offered.
The mothers all breathed sighs of relief. Our little girls would have the chance to learn leadership skills and sing campfire songs and make new Scouting friends after all!
The next day, Jane and I realized that WE were the ones who had volunteered to be the troop leaders and wondered what in the world we had gotten ourselves into. A word to the wise: organizing a brand new Girl Scout Daisy Troop is a LOT of work! Way more work than you originally think. However, our daughters were beside themselves with excitement. And their excitement is what propelled us forward.
Jane and I just held our first Daisy troop meeting last weekend. I think it went really well. We invited the other parents to stay so that we could meet them and talk about the year, and they are all really lovely people. And our group of eager little girls is just fantastic. Jane planned two crafts for the girls, and they were thrilled (thank God one of us is crafty!). They are all so happy and energetic and ready to learn. They are like little sponges ready to absorb every bit of information we are willing to give them. I want to give them lots!
I still think that being a Girl Scout leader will be a challenging and time-consuming project (especially when I never dreamed that I would be spending my time this way). And I still can’t claim to have a clue what I am doing. But I pledge to give it my best Girl Scout try!
Really, when you think about it…taking on a role that gives you the chance to spend fun and meaningful time with your daughter, gives you the opportunity to know your daughter’s friends and their parents, and enables you to help teach positive life lessons to the whole lot of them…well, it doesn’t seem like such a bad gig after all.
Kate is a contributing writer for Mommy Moment. Kate is the proud mom of Anna and Kellen, who are starting to pick up all of her best habits: a passion for reading and exploring new places, an intense interest in organizing, and a total disregard for sleep. See what she has been up to over at www.adventuresinparenting.me
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Jackie H.
Tuesday 9th of November 2010
I think it will be a great venture for you and Anna in a new place. Just think of all the friends you both can make! And those girls scouts are totally lucky to have you!
Alex
Thursday 4th of November 2010
Good luck with your new project! You'll do wonderfully!!
Living the Scream
Thursday 4th of November 2010
That is such a funny story! it's amazing what predicaments we find ourselves in as mothers! Your daughter is so cute in the picture! Good luck in your new Girls scout leader role. :)