If you are reading this article to get inspired about being a Girl Scout Leader- STOP! We all know that helping girls at all ages is a rewarding experience, filled with great moments to remember in our memory book of life. This article is about OTHER things that happen.

Girl Scouts begins in Kindergarten when little girls are known as "Daisies," Girl Scout founder Juliette Lowe's nickname. They wear blue vests and earn "petals" instead of badges. This time, through Brownies, is when you'll probably be leading the biggest number of girls in your troop. Tip #1) Don't have a big agenda for your meetings! Leading young girls in activites is like coordinating gnats who have ADD. They will wander around, lose interest, cry and varied. Keep things short! Get the girls involved in planning and running the meetings as they get older, especially into Juniors. However, don't expect too much. 

The next thing to realize: You are a baby-sitting service. Out of all the parents in your troop, there will be a few who are dedicated to helping you. These are probably the same people who volunteer for helping with school activities, room mom, etc. The rest are just happy to leave their child off with you and get away for awhile. If you make it clear from the start that you expect parent involvement from everyone, that will help. A fellow leader who did not set clear guidelines actually had to drive all her girls home after meetings because the parents couldn't be bothered to come get them! Do not let this happen. I had parents who routinely "forgot" to pick up their daughters. Be clear at the outset.

Camping is fun, right? Not always. One of the first things to tell your girls is not to overpack! Imagine a girl with luggage twice as big as she is and a cabin 1/2 mile away, down a muddy road. That was just the beginning of my troop's first camping experience. I told them "You bring it, you carry it." They learned to pack more prudently after that, and I felt like an ogre. We camped during the worst winter storm in our area in years, freezing cold wind and rain. Cabin full of holes, no window coverings and a door that would not stay closed! We had to pull on every article of clothing we'd packed and wear it at night-- including hats and gloves-- just to stay warm. Where were the bathrooms? Across a muddy courtyard. When did we have to use it? When someone woke at 2 a.m. and said she had to go, causing everyone else to wake up and need to go, too. That meant dealing with Mud Containment! Taking shoes off in rain outside to not track mud into cabin, sleeping bags, luggage... This lesson goes along with the Girl Scout motto: Be Prepared. 

Girl Scout Leader Training. It's now required, as opposed to a more open format when we were kids. You have to take lots of courses to be allowed the privilege of being a leader. Then there's unit meetings, where troops from your area gets together monthly. This is going to take a lot of your time. 

As time goes on, there will be an attrition rate. My troop started with 22 girls, and I'm now down to 7 girls who will be in 8th grade next year. How to keep Scouting "cool" is a problem. The girls can earn bronze awards in Juniors, silver awards in Cadettes and the Gold Award as Seniors. These look great on resumes and even offset SAT scores. I keep meetings fun and only have them as often as the girls' busy schedules allow. Cookie sales also become less "fun." Your sales will probably go down. 

Of course, there are experiences that are wonderful, like "bridging" to Cadettes by walking across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with 7,000 Girl Scouts from all over the country and watching them become fine young ladies. 

Good luck with your experience-- but be prepared!