No more Girl Scouts for me...

I've officially retired as a Leader.

Hayley is the only girl left in our troop and as much as I want to be her leader, I just can't do it for one alone.

I knew of another troop nearby, though, and the leader is thrilled to adopt Hayley into her troop. Hayley will be the twentieth girl in that multi-level Girl Scout gumbo!

When I first told Hayley-Bear of my decision, the sweet thing cried. She wanted me to be her leader forever. I am so grateful for that! I am so grateful that my almost twelve year old still wants me to participate in her life!

Once she got used to the idea of a larger troop, Hayley was excited about the possibilities of being in a troop with more than three girls. Tomorrow (Sunday) is her first meeting and while she is a little nervous, she can't wait to don her tan vest, hold up those three fingers and say the GS Pledge with a whole gaggle of girls.

I'm sad to be hanging up my GS tab. I've had so much fun with it and I've really loved making a positive difference in the lives of these girls. In an ideal world, I would have a full group, lots of parental involvement and plenty of time to commit to it.

As it is, something's gotta give. And with only one girl left in my GS troop, the decision was pretty obvious.

I have to admit, though, I am more than a little relieved to be letting it go. Leading a troop takes a lot of planning, coordinating and keeping the peace among pre-teen girls. And then there's the insane money-tracking GS Corporate demands and cookie sales. I don't have even a pie sliver of desire to do any of that. So retiring is a good thing, isn't it?

All that's left to do is officially close down the troop, turn in the 12 cents we have in the bank (I'm not kidding about that number) and donate the rest of my supplies. Then I'm done.

And she says, "Good night, Girl Scouts!" for the last time.