I am my daughter’s Brownie Troop Leader, but I am actually pretty laid-back about it after a year-and-a-half (except when I have to collect Girl Scout Council-mandated forms, in which case I am a stressful mess until every girl has submitted the necessary bureaucratic documents). We sing songs (“Make New Friends,” “Princess Pat,” “Brownie Smile,” etc.), work on badges (this year, I was thrilled to do the Hispanic Heritage Month badge, and the girls had loads of fun learning how to do different popular dances for their Dance badge), go on field trips, learn about new cultures, volunteer, etc. But my co-leader (a lovely mom several years younger than I who volunteered to help because she was a Girl Scout herself growing up, not because her children are old enough to even be Girl Scouts!), don’t suffer from delusions that we are the greatest Troop Leaders alive.
We don’t do out-of-control crafts (although I did buy a laminator and an embosser last year, so that has to count for some crafty points), and we sometimes plan our meetings a day or two before they occur if we can’t get our schedules to mesh. But we do care about our girls, plan enough for them to do to love being Girl Scouts and to understand that we live in a world that needs well-read, well-rounded, capable young women, and these girls are up to the task.
This weekend, we’re headed on a field trip to a local museum, and the girls are SO excited to learn about science and nature and technology. Not one of them balked about the museum’s subject matter being too academic or difficult or boring. They ALL want to go and learn and be together. And even though they’re just wearing white T-shirts with iron-on logos (customized by each girl with fabric markers), I’m not going to worry about whether we’re as Girl Scouty as the other Troops there. We’re ready to learn, and to be together, and that’s all that matters to me.
