Is it worth being a Troop Leader?

**yawn** It's 5 o' clock in the morning and I'm still at work.

I'm bored.

I'm hungry.

I miss my bed.

I miss my babies.

More importantly, I'm exhausted. SO exhausted. But I have one more hour to go and I'm free. You see, for one night a week, I work the third shift - 10pm Monday to 6am Tuesday. It's hard. I won't sugar coat it. To make things even more rough, I have a Girl Scout meeting tonight. Don't get me wrong, I love leading a group of girls, but right now, I just wanna sleep.... it'll have to wait.

It's 6am and I'm driving home.

Still yawning.

Still hungry.

Plus side? I'll see my bed and my babies soon.

First, this drive home.... not too bad. I'm reunited with my bed for no more than half an hour. I wake up my daughter; breakfast, teeth, hair, uniform, papers signed, lunch made and we're good to good. My one year is still sleeping (YES!). I drop off my second grader and head back home. Quickly, I jump in bed, turn on my fan and fall asleep. It doesn't take me long.

~

If I'm lucky, I wake up between 10am & 11am. That gives me close to three hours of sleep after an eight hour shift and a few more hours (give or take) from being awake. But not today. No, today my son has a doctor appointment at 10am. I'm awake no sooner than I fell asleep. His bag is packed thanks to my awesome husband and I'm still in my work uniform so we're up and out the door by 9:30am. Baby needed shots today so now I'm drained with a fussy one year old.

I head to the store because we're out of milk. Since I'm out, I decide to visit the Dollar Tree for anything my troop might need that I maybe forgot. My son and I leave, getting home by noon. My son is ready for a nap and goes to sleep fairly easily. I, on the other hand, have a house to clean and a meeting to prepare for. I'm still exhausted.

~

My son is awake an hour later and my house is semi-clean. My daughter goes to after school, which gives me a few extra hours to work on my meeting plans and hopefully get dinner on the table for my husband when he gets home.

I mange to boil some pasta and sear some bratwurst. I leave my son with my mother in law, pick up my daughter from after school and we're on our way to our meeting. Did I forget anything? 

Crayons, yes.

Paperwork, yes.

Phone, ye.... Darn it. I seem to ALWAYS forget my phone, so here we go back home, which is luckily only a block back. Okay. We're good. If you lost track, I'm still exhausted.

~

Our usual time slot for our meeting is 6:00pm - 7:30pm. Today, it's at 5:00. You see, today is recruitment night and that starts at 7pm, but we'll get to that.

The meeting goes smoothly. The girls say the promise, we get out activity done and moms turn in anything they remembered. It goes without saying that not each girl paid enough attention, not every mom turned in money or read their emails, and a few girls didn't show. *sigh* Why do I keep doing this?

~

8pm and recruitment has just ended. I'm getting five new girl scouts, and two moms promised to register as troop volunteers! Seems as if my day is getting better before it ends. My eyes can barely stay open and I'm pretty sure I forgot to eat something before I left the house... so I'm still hungry and I'm still exhausted.... But you know what?

I'd do it all over again for the smiles I saw on their faces. It's totally worth it.

Panera Bread Program: Bakers In Training

Lately, I've been trying to come up with new things for my troop to participate in. When I found out about the Bakers In Training program at Panera Bread, I jumped on it. You can check here to see if there's an offer in your area.

I originally set up a date that turned out not to be a good day, but it was easy for me to email someone in charge and change it around. It was a great experience!

When my troop arrived, there were place settings with a hat and apron. The girls were so excited! Set up in groups, they were able to go in the back of the kitchen. They rolled two pieces of dough and scored the top while the manager put each tray in the oven.

While the girls waiting for them to bake, they had an opportunity to decorate their own cookie. My girls didn't like the frosting much, so not many of them ate their cookie. They were also given a choice of white or chocolate milk.

The manager then brought out their trays and my troop picked out which one of the two baguettes they wanted to keep and which one they wanted to donate. Panera Bread donates their leftovers to a shelter! Each one was given a certificate and we ended out event with a huge thank you! A few ordered a bite to eat, but majority left for the night. It was great experience that I hope we can do again once the girls are older.


A fun patch was also included, but those come at a later date, given that we have to email someone to let them know we participated. 








Pros:

• A lesson on donation
• Hands on learning
• Huge participation skills
• Fun Patch included
• Well worth $20 each child

Cons:

• No privacy (We sat in open seating)

I did not see a problem with sitting in the open area, but it began to get a bit crowded, especially when others were trying to find a place to sit themselves. I even caught a few people put in headphones while trying to work (Sorry!).