Daisy Scouts!

Rachel had her first Daisy Scouts meeting last night! The meetings are the last Tuesday of every month. The troop leaders pick the girls up from extended day and take them to the art room, where they have their meeting, do activities and then are served pizza for dinner. Parents pick them up at 7. It's a great system.

I surprised Rachel yesterday morning by putting a necklace on her than I had gotten at the Girl Scout store downtown -- a necklace of daisy petals to symbolize being a Daisy Scout. "I hope you get a lot out of it," I said, and she thanked me profusely for the necklace; she really liked it a lot.

After I picked her up, I was helping Kelly, the troop leader, carry stuff out when I heard a scream and sobbing down the hall. Rachel was running toward me. "Libby THREW MY SNACK ON THE FLOOR!" she shrieked. "Come on, Rachel, she didn't do it on purpose," I said. "SHE DID!" Rachel insisted, and unfortunately it was true. Libby is Kelly's daughter, and sometimes she's just mean or wild for no reason -- the first time she came to our house for a playdate she clearly didn't want to be there and ended up ripping some of Rachel's artwork off the walls, which shocked all of us because she seems like a nice kid.

Anyway, Kelly was highly embarrassed, since she had just led a meeting at which she emphasized how Girl Scouts ought to behave, and she insisted Libby apologize. "I'm sorry," Libby simpered, not sounding at all sorry, and Kelly insisted Libby give Rachel the rest of her snack as payment. Libby refused and got on the floor, so Kelly had to wrest it from her backpack. "It's ok, you don't have to," Rachel said sincerely, and I was so proud of her. I was even prouder when she and Libby raced to the playground to wait for us (it was dark and there was still snow on the ground), and when we got there Rachel announced she had given Libby's snack back to her. Later she told us that she had followed Libby outside because she was worried "that someone would take her" and she wanted to make sure she was OK.

That right there showed us that Rachel is wise and kind beyond her years, a true Girl Scout. By the time the meeting had ended, she had memorized the Girl Scout Promise and, apparently told Kelly (who is overwhelmed as troop leader) that she'd be perfectly fine with leading the troop herself, if Kelly needed help.