Guiding Rocks!

I came back from my first camping trip of the year, and it was great. The Manitoba Girl Guides had a provinical camp at St. Malo (about an hour east of Winnipeg), with about 400 girls registered, plus leaders. Big group! I was helping out with a Guide unit, and I really enjoyed myself. I used to be a guider with that age group, but that was a few years ago now. I had gotten kinda frustrated, and decided to move to an older age group (Pathfinders). Now, I am contemplating moving back.

The girls were so sweet and receptive to me, even though many of them had just met me the week before. There were a few that I think I even kinda "got through to". Although I think that it is important for children to have boundaries, I think that they can be said "no" to, too often. Some of the girls were an example of that. I let a group be creative, and think outside the box. They weren't being dangerous - just being different. Sometimes, I think we adults get stuck in our ruts, and start to believe that our way of doing things is the only - and right - way. The girls really appreciated that I let them try out their own way.

Another kinda weird thing was that there was this girl that I used to babysit for back in high school when she was one. Suddenly, the family had stopped calling, and I never knew why. I thought that maybe the parents had split. Well, I saw her again - she was in the Guide unit that I was helping out with! Weird, eh? I recognized her Mom's name, and it makes sense - she would be the right age. I never said anything to either her, or her Mom - I thought it might be a little awkward. It made me happy though to see that the baby that had been my favorite has grown up to be a very nice girl.