For the Love of Shelly

For her ENTIRE WHOLE LIFE, Shelly has wanted to be a Girl Scout. That's right, for 2,278 days Shelly has wanted to be a Scout, meet with other Daisies once a week and play games and do crafts, and whatever else cute little girl scouts do. FINALLY, after a bazillion million days of waiting... Last week, on Sunday night at 8:30, I got a phone call.

"Hi, this is Liz with Girl Scouts... blah blah blah... see you tomorrow night!" That's right, a scout troop had started up. There had already been meetings and discussions with other moms. None of us would volunteer to run a troop. Finally the official Girl Scout Council found someone for us and started a troop. On Monday morning I shared with Shelly the great news, and she was so shocked she couldn't even believe me. "REALLY?? For real???" YES, really! And so, that night, there we all were. In the gym at a local elementary school,  introducing ourselves and watching our girls play games and learn the Pledge. Or Promise, or something.

Here's where it gets fun. Our second scout meeting, I drive up to the school and see the leader (remember, that's Ms. Liz) banging on the doors of the school and looking through the window. It was dark inside, the janitor wasn't there to open the doors. I left the kids in the car and went to talk to Ms. Liz (in the rain). We couldn't get in (we were all standing around IN THE RAIN). Meeting cancelled (still raining). Ok, we'll see you next week. I get in the car. Shelly is sitting there and I break the news. "I'm sorry honey, no scouts tonight." Then the real rain starts. Tears. She's crying, this dream of Girl Scouts being dangled in front of her and then cruelly taken away at the last second. And that's when I knew I COULD NOT accept "no scouts tonight." For the love of my precious little daughter and her dream of her very own scout troop... "Wait here."

I marched back out into the rain, to Liz and the other moms gathered around her, and made the offer. We can have it at my house! Address given, directions, that's my car you can follow me and we're off! Caravanning to my house. Instructions to the kids on the way. The second we get home, you clean up this, pick up that, put everything away, unlock the door, show your friends in, we're home! Run go do everything! And in 15 seconds flat all the toys were thrown into bedrooms and doors shut, backpacks and shoes thrown into the laundry room and again door shut and OH I'm so glad you could come over, welcome! And the meeting began. And Ms. Liz thanked us a hundred times and the ONLY thing that mattered to me was that Shelly's day was saved.

And that's what happens when you love your sweet little Daisy Scout, you don't care what the house looks like, that its not quite clean enough or you didn't plan to spend your evening this way. You invite 7 girls and their moms and a leader into your home for a scout meeting and everyone gets to plant seeds and play in the dirt around your dining room table. The rest of it doesn't matter, just your love for that precious Shelly.