Ever fond of going out and keeping busy, the kids and I met some friends at the theatre yesterday afternoon to see Enchanted. It a very sugary sweet movie but I liked it. A lot. Sugar sweet movies help counteract some of the Gruesome Guts & Gore movies Rick likes to see. =) And heck, you are reading the blog of a woman who still loves all of the Little House books and Anne of Green Gables (and Emily of New Moon and Pat of Silver Bush and Blue Castles and okay! I'll stop) so of course I'd like Enchanted!
From the movies, I dropped Tristyn off at the house with Rick and Missy got into the car with Maia and I and we went directly to the library for our Daisy Girl Scouts Parent's meeting. Missy and I had some supplies to make a craft and also some crackers and juice for a snack if it was needed.
It went really well. At least I like to think so and hope that others do too.
When we got there (ten mins early) two little girls were already there! Heather, who comes from the GS main local office, was there,too, to help us out. She had brought the necessary things for a craft project as well. At first, Maia was shy and didn't want to sit down with the other two girls but she eventually did and once seated she dived right in. Heather was really great at getting the girls started while we waited to see if anyone else would come. And come they did!
Mums and daughters came through the door one right after another making it seem as if we were being overwhelmed with girls. But--in hardly any time at all, we had the girls seated at the table making S'more snowmen and Heather brought the moms to a table outside of the children's room to talk to them about sign-ups and such.
Maia's S'more Snoman joins Rafting Santa on the mantle. You guys know the drill--if the pic isn't super clear you know it comes from my cell phone....and this time I blame the lack of a great picture on myself. It's too chilly in the house (c'mon furnance!) to go poking about looking for the camera.
I must say it was a little alarming how quickly 9 little girls can go through a craft. Good thing Heather had brought a craft thinking we wouldn't know to bring one because it helped give the girls something to do. None of us were sure if the mothers (no fathers came, and I only say mothers because I'm not sure if some were merely guardians or perhaps grandmothers--but everyone looked too young to be a grandmother) were bringing the girls with them or not. One mother didn't bring her daughter, Maeve, because she didn't think she was supposed to but we gave her the supplies to make the crafts to take home to her daughter.
One little girl told me right away about how her two bottom teeth had fallen out and showed me her grown-up teeth that were just starting to come up. The tooth fairy visited her and gave her TWO WHOLE DOLLARS! I was impressed...I used to get 2 quarters a tooth! Then ALL of the girls peeled back their bottom lips to show me their new grownup teeth and tell me (and Missy of course) how much the tooth fairy had given them. I tell you that tooth fairy must prefer teeth from certain girls opposed to other girls (ahem! me!) because she freely doles out the $1s and $5s.
Missy and I got the first craft cleaned up and we launched into the second. Snowflake ornaments. It was very simple--we thought it best to keep everything simple during the parent's meeting--but we got to hear 9 little 'Ooooohhhhh!'s' when we laid out a fair number of colorful, shimmering.....glitter....glue. Glitter glue and NINE girls you are thinking? Trust me that was much better than the alternative of Glue AND Glitter. Our glitter was self-contained. Still, I think everyone went home with a glittery patch or two on their clothing. I know I did--bright sparkly red!
Maia used lots of colors on her snowflake so it's a bit hard to see in a darkened house with only the colored lights of the Christmas tree to illuminate it.
As Missy was tying the ribbons onto the girls' finished snowflakes, Heather took the girls in the other room to sing a song and I got the task of giving a little speech to the parents concerning meetings, dues, etc.
I thought I was going to die.
No, I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me.
Me. The person who dreads public speaking so much of any sort that if I even think about doing it and there is absolutely no chance in sight that I will be doing it that I still get incredibly nervous and shaky had to stand in front of 10 mums and talk. Totally wing it too because it wasn't as if I had written any sort of a speech to rattle off of note cards.
Despite alternating between my normal color-pink-hot pink-light red-flaming scarlet-blistering purple complete with a blast of heat that rose all the way up my ears before returning to normal and starting the cycle again, I think I did okay. I think. I hope.
Please say I didn't sound too awful or too stupid!
I tried very hard not to repeat myself and to sound casual with references to Maia and how excited she was about Daisy Scouts and that's why I decided I'd step up to be a leader because she wanted to be a Daisy so badly. I tried to explain briefly what days our meetings would be and such. I think I used the phrase 'pretty much' like 3 or 4 times. (I woke up at three in the morning ready to slap myself for that) I did avoid 'um.' I think. I hope. I'll ask Missy today.
The only major goof-up I did was I realized that the little newsletter I typed and printed up did NOT include my phone number and email!
Stupid, stupid.
I can't put the blame on anyone but myself for that one. But I will say that Heather had said she would put her name and contact info on the forms so I wouldn't get bombarded with questions early on. Now, I was at the office when I was trying to make the newsletter ( between sneaking peeks to make sure the office manager wasn't coming)and all I can say is that remembering what Heather had said and lack of a completely functioning brain due to too many caramel cream candies that it didn't even occur to me that she had meant the flyers about the Parent's Meeting. Not about any other paperwork.
Duh Michelle!
I'll forgive myself on that one. I have contact information for all of the parent's and girls and I plan on sending each of them a little card thanking them for coming to the meeting and signing up and I will put my contact information on the card.
Heather came in one last time to talk to the mother's and I switched places with her to supervise the bathroom break the girls were taking. They were all standing in a line waiting their turn in the bathroom in a very cute, giggly way. One girl was very curious (and had been first in line) and wanted to go back and see what the other grown-ups were doing. She was opening the door to the children's library and sorta poking her head back in to try to get a glimpse. I asked her to stay with us and her little feet kept inching farther and farther away. Start as you mean to go on (thank you Laura Ingalls, hahaha) I told myself and I surprised myself (I'm not usually the type to say things like what's coming up) by spouting off
'Daisy Scouts stick together! No one ever goes off alone. Please stay with us. Daisy Scouts stick together.'
From behind me a chorus piped up:
'Daisy Scouts stick together!'
I almost died from the cuteness.
She stayed with us.
