Girls Are Worth It

One of the hardest parts of our moves is always leaving "My Girls" behind.

I did not grow up a Girl Scout. My father was military and we moved so much that there were very few things my parents wanted to spend the time and money on. The future was always uncertain. Moves were unexpected and quick. Not a good combination for the "finish what you start" mentality.

When Songbird started school I wanted her in Scouts.  It wasn't the crafts and fun. It wasn't the camping...although that is fun. It was the social aspect.  Not social as in socializing. Social as in service to your community.

When you move around as much as we have, connecting to your community is rather hard. So we have to find an interest and dive into the community in that area to feel like we belong and to connect to our area. For many that can be church. For others its volunteering with the schools. The possibilities are endless.

As I had kids and settled into life, I wanted something more on the giving end. I wanted the same for my kids. So Scouting became an important part of our lives no matter where we moved.

What I didn't go looking for was to be involved in Scouts myself. But, as happens many times, I was pulled in during a crisis when another leader was needed.

And I never left -- except for our stay in Waco -- but Songbird was still in a troop even though I wasn't.

Part of the reason I wasn't involved in Waco was because it was so heart breaking to leave my girls in Omaha behind. They were amazing! I enjoyed every minute with those girls! And I wasn't big on strangers kids. They changed all that for me.

When we came to Ohio Songbird was about done with Scouts and going in other directions. Now I had Mouse asking me to join. She was pretty much the troop mascot since she was adopted so she was now old enough to be a scout herself and she was ready.

Of course there was a shortage of leaders as this was a super troop with almost all age groups.  That's alot of leaders to need on hand.  I knew I needed to be away from Mouse to get her to interact but I had almost all the training already so I went ahead and agreed to work with the older girls.

It's been a blast.  And yes, I have found I like the older (middle school aged) girls the best! Not quite into boys yet, old enough to behave, but young enough to be a hot mess! Love it.

I have been with these girls for 4 years now and I LOVE them.

Tonight Mouse and I had to go say our good-byes.  Mouse said goodbye to her age group last week. I still had to bring her to the older girls meeting also for goodbyes as she is well loved. It pays to be cute.

Once again I am leaving a group of girls that I would really love to stick around and see grow up. They are amazing. And the service projects they come up with for their community? Great stuff! They love to help others. They have all the idea's needed...as adults we just have to provide the ride or the direction on how to get where they want to go.

I never saw myself as loving this. It was a temporary thing. Today, I can honestly say its one of the most satisfying and fun things I do.

Girls need adults other than family to be in their corner. They need adults to cheer them on and encourage them to be all they can be.  They need adults they can cut up with on a camping trip without worrying about being kept in line when they are too loud or too boisterous.

They need you.

If you are looking for a way to give back to your community, please consider Scouts. Its not as hard as you would think. The older they are the more THEY run the show and you just facilitate.  And our youth want to help their communities! You could be the one to make it happen for them.

Our girls are worth your time.  And guess what? If you try it and don't like it? You don't do it again. No harm, no foul. But maybe, just maybe, you will find out that this is worth two Fridays a month.

What I know for sure is...

Girls are worth it.



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