The Puddles

Wow. This was the best experience that I have ever had in Girl Scouts.  I am so glad that I got to take my daughters with me to this event.  They are still talking about it.  It has been 30 years since the convention was in Houston (and I did go to that one too).  I don’t know that we will ever have this opportunity again.  My girls got to meet women and girls from all over the nation and the world. Their favorite person was the girl from Japan.  They thought that was just too cool.

It was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center and there were thousands of girls there.  Every booth gave out free stuff to the girls and/or had activities for the girls to do.  Cool activities too.  We didn’t even get to do half of the stuff.  At lunch time with the troop we decided to stay longer.  The girls were having a blast.  So after calling all of the parents we stayed until 4pm when the convention closed.  I only hope that my girls can do it again and participate as part of the older girl part.  What an empowering event for these girls.  In a world that so often degrades women, this was a place that was all about the empowering of women.  Every mom that came with us emailed, called or texted me and thanked me for taking the girls.  It was worth all of the effort to get us there.  I will never forget this experience ever.

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Papa Grace was able to join the kids for Veteran’s Day at Wilkinson. The principal does an excellent job putting a program together that is respectful of the day.  Papa got to sit on the stage and had his name announced.  Papa and Grandma Lake, Chris and I sat in the audience and watched the program.  Madie did a wonderful job singing in the choir.  It was a great morning.  And after pictures with Papa Grace we (the adults) enjoyed breakfast at Panera bread. A good way to end the morning.

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The girls are working hard to make enough SWAPS for the upcoming National Convention.  This is their first time. They are going to have so much fun.  The goal is to make as many SWAPS as possible in order to have enough to trade for the time they are there.  I think we will make it!

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It was a great Halloween this year!  We invited a couple of Madie’s friends to join us this year.  Patricia and Madie have been wanting to be Girl Scout vampires for a couple of years, but they kept forgetting.  Finally her mom and I talked about a month prior and planned for the girls to be vampires.  Of course, Ainsley wanted to be vampire Dorothy.

The girls are Disney versions of vampires.  I had to beg Ainsley to put blood around her mouth.  Ben decided to be a ninja. It was not my idea to buy him swords, but Daddy said you can’t be a ninja without swords and bought them for Ben.  So now Ben has swords. Crazy.  But he is good with them, and so far hasn’t struck anyone.

After the fifth house, Ainsley was done and wanted to go home. She had enough candy she said.  After less than an hour of trick or treating the youngest two went home and helped Daddy pass out candy.  Then I took the older girls for another half and hour just by themselves.  They all had a good time.  By the time, we got home and settled I was tired.  At 8:30 we turned out the lights and locked the door.  We still had kids come up to 10:30 that night.  Where are their parents?  These weren’t high schoolers.  They were about middle school age.  I finally admonished the last set about trick or treating at houses whose lights are out.  Geez.

But in the end it was good.  We all had a great time including Daddy who didn’t have to walk and got to stay home and pass out candy!

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I was lucky this year to go with Ainsley on her first grade field trip.  Of course, her homeroom had so many volunteers that we got two friends from other classrooms. Luckily one of the girls was from her class last year.  It was fun.  The girls loved the animals.  Especially the miniature horse.

At lunch time, it started pouring down rain.   It was awful.  The kids could hardly stay dry under the awning.  As soon as it stopped raining, they cancelled the field trip because the rain turned into everything into mud.  Gross!

So Ainsley and I headed out early and ran errands.  She and I had a “buddy day.” She and I enjoy spending time together.  It was a great day!

These times are fleeting so I certainly enjoy it while I can!

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At the kids elementary school, parties are only allowed twice a year.  So officially this was a “celebration”.  But of course, in this school, with these parents, it was an all out party.  The kids had plenty of fruit and sugary goodies to choose from.   The kids had a really good time.  There are always so many parents in the room that it is almost a one to one ratio, but I went and sat with Ainsley and had a good time.  I love seeing her smile!

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Halloween is over. It was a lot of fun, but I am ready for a day off to recuperate.  I don’t think I’ll get one. We are all starting to think about the holidays that are coming up.  Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Madie keeps reminding me that her birthday is in there too.  I would really like to not do things at the last minute this year.  I have started my list and I am planning my days carefully to try to fit everything in.  The sad reality so far is that I don’t think I’ll be able to fit everything into my schedule.  It is probably good that I come to this realization now on November 2 instead of December 24th.  There is less disappointment that way.

I just need to remind myself to keep checking the master calendar and use it efficiently so that I can get my list done by the end of this holiday rush.  One of my goals for this holiday is to get the kids to think about others.  This is hard.  I realized this at dinner a few nights ago when I talked to them about “making” presents for each other.  Madie thought that meant that she would “make” a trip to the store to buy a present.  No. You have to create something for each other.  The conversation was so difficult that I realized that I needed to have more discussions about this before I required them to complete the task.  But this is a good thing.  My kids care and want to do for others, but often they think that is going to the store and buying things with mommy and daddy’s money to give to the poor and needy.  This is good too, but there are no sacrifices on their part.  I’m not ready to give away all of their toys to teach the meaning of giving to others.  But I would like for them to begin to understand that true giving is giving of themselves too and it is not always easy.  I think that in our little “world” people are willing to give but not to the point that it affects their own comforts.  I don’t hear people talking about giving up their daily Starbucks so that they can give that money to the food bank or to the veterans or to the homeless.  They will give up their luxuries when forced to by financial circumstances, but that is it.  I am not cynical enough to believe that this never happens in my nice safe suburb.  I just wish that this was more a part of our culture.  I can’t fix others, but I can start with my own children.

I always admired my sister-in-law who makes her girls pick five toys from their rooms before Christmas to give away. The rule is that they can’t be broken and that they have to work. Very cool.  I like that.  I did try last year with my kids, but I didn’t make it to five things each.  And Madie kept trying to give away toys that Ainsley was still playing with. Well, this year is a new year and we’ll try again.

So I have two goals this holiday season: 1. Don’t procrastinate. 2. Make the emphasis of the holidays about caring for others and not about just ourselves.

I am starting on November 2nd. That’s plenty of time to get it all done. I feel like the Little Engine that Could . . . “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.”  That story ends well and I’m sure that mine will too.  We’ll check back on December 26th and find out!

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