Votes and Help

I have two very different things that I'm thankful for today.

First, the obvious one.  I'm thankful that I get the chance to voice my opinion through my vote every four years to elect our President.  Does my candidate always win?  Nope.  Do I voice my opinion?  Yep.  I'm not holing my breath on this one being over tomorrow.  There's just too much bitterness and divisiveness in the country right now that this won't go down without a legal battle or three.

But, on the smaller, closer to home front, I am so very thankful for my co-leaders and the other parents who help out with my girls.  Tonight we had our "make up" Halloween party that got crashed by Sandy last week.  From what I can tell, everyone had fun.  There were only a few minor misadventures along the way (like not being able to get either oven to light, but plan "B" worked).  I had three people keeping the girls busy with crafty stuff and Kat and I tried to get the girls through the kitchen and cooking as quick as we could.  We still ran extra late tonight.  I feel kinda bad about it.  We had two new girls, and the one mom made me feel like I was totally incompetent because the girls were running amuck like they always do at the beginning of the meeting.  Hey, I'm not a very formal (or really all that strict) leader.  This isn't school.  They don't have to sit in desks and be quiet and study and listen to lectures.  Sure, we may have someone in to talk to us now and again.  We may try and do organized activities.  But, the adventures we have going places, learning things and exploring is what this is all about.  The badges and awards we can earn along the way are the icing on the cake.  And from what I've seen and heard from a some of the girls coming to me from other troops, there are leaders out there who give Mrs. Tanenbaum, my 4th grade Language Arts teacher a run for her money in the strict and overbearing department.  (Sorry Mom and Jon, didn't mean to bring up bad memories of a horrible teacher...)

Anyhow, back to being thankful.  Without all the other women there tonight it would have been a royal disaster.  It was one thing for me and one other adult to run a meeting when there were only four or five girls at any meeting.  But tonight, I think we had 19.  And with two new girls who couldn't come this week, a Rachel who is mostly inactive and one girl who I'm just not sure if she's joining or not, I think we're up to 21 or 22 all told.  Yep, lots and lots of girls.  I really couldn't do this without the other women (and the dads who help out too!).

So, I'm thankful for my voice (even if it doesn't always seem like it's heard) in government, but closer to home, I'm very, very thankful for all the wonderful women helping me heard cats, er, lead our girls on these awesome adventures.

Peace to all and may you have all the help, and more, that you need, and a voice to use.