So THAT'S Why I volunteer

I do rant alot, especially about Girl Scouts (not that I need to tell any of my good friends this), and have "quit" at least 4 times in the past 3 years. But I keep refocusing, and going back. My daughter enjoys it, without me there might not be a troop, other girls wouldn't be involved, leadership is a quality I want my daughter to possess, compassion for others is another. Yeah, yeah, blah, blah....It's the dealing with the adults and the paperwork that takes the joy out of it (kinda like teaching!).

This weekend was International Festival. I was a co-organizer for this two neighborhood event. I did almost *nothing* prior to the event. My co-organizer was fantastic, and maybe even more of a control freak than I am, and did all of the leg work preparing for the day. My responsibilities was getting my troop ready to represent Ireland and running the event that day. I was semi-prepared with my troop, and didn't do any prep work for the latter....But somehow it all pulled itself together and I think it went well! My daughter was able to see her mom as an authority figure over 300 people. She witnessed me organize the 19 troops and run an entire event- almost completely on my own. The only 2 blips- forgetting to retire the colors and not having an icepack in my first aid box, were minor for an event of this size. I've always enjoyed the spirit of International Festival, and was proud to be apart of it. However, for my next try-it meeting, my girls will be working on their first aid boxes....