Peace Out, Girl Scout

I have been my daughter's Girl Scout troop leader for the past 5 years. This year has been difficult... I guess it's fair to say I lost my Girl Scout mojo.

I don't think I lost it because the girls are getting older and harder to boss around. I think I lost it because Girl Scouts is changing direction. Councils are larger now. There is less emphasis on badges and awards. Instead, girls take "Journeys" over the course of a year. Theoretically, all girls of the same age in the country could be taking the same Journey. A Journey requires a book... each girl is supposed to have one Journey book per year to guide her down her path to.... next year's Journey. It's a good idea, but in practice, it hasn't been successful in our troop. The girls in my troop are busy with other things, we don't have a lot of time to sit and read and discuss. My girls want to DO.

Other troops, however, are making a go of it, and are presumably successful. These other troops have leaders who were Girl Scouts as girls, then camp counselors, and they know all the songs and they are so GOOD at being Girl Scout leaders that I feel sorry for my girls for getting stuck with me. I offer them the chance to bail, no hard feelings, every year. Every year they decide to stick together. Every year I remind myself that we aren't in competition with other troops.

So here I am at the end of another Girl Scout year. In a few weeks, we will have the Court of Awards, where my troop will have 3 minutes on the stage. Typically, the leader would take those 3 minutes to talk about what the troop had done over the year, the badges the girls had earned, service projects the girls had done, and/or their plans for next year. I've got none of that. I'm going to ask my girls to do a skit or something.

Last night, it all changed. I learned about Tambu. Tambu is a Girl Scout tradition, and they have been doing it in the Portland area for a few years. It's for girls in the 7th grade and above. Tambu is a weekend of camping and competition. Troops bring all their food and equipment to a summer camp, and are assigned an area. The leader may drive her car with the supplies to an area near the campsite... and from then on, it's girls-only, for the whole weekend. The girls unload the car, set up camp, cook, and clean. And they are judged on how well they do! And, there are additional contests for first aid, knots, orienteering and other outdoorsy business.
Tambu is just what I need to re-energize my Girl Scout batteries. It's competetive, camping, and I don't have to do anything! What could be better?

Tomorrow evening, most of the Girl Scouts in Albany, my troop included, are going camping. I won't be able to post from there, but I hope to have some good stories and pictures when I get back. I am hoping I can get the girls as jacked up about Tambu as I am.