I’ve been a parent volunteer for the last three years, since my daughter joined Guiding as a Spark.

I can tell you that Girl Guides has been a great experience for me personally. Watching the girls learning, laughing and growing is fulfilling. There are some moments when the girls really make me feel like a proud mama hen. Here are a couple of examples:

It’s not easy working with 14 little girls — sometimes trying to get them to listen as a group has its challenges. Forest Owl and I worked with them on manners and being a good audience for weeks it seems. One day, the Pathfinders came by and presented a skit to our girls. Every single one of them listened attentively and didn’t talk during the presentation. That night, I told Forest Owl that the girls had truly earned their “Listen to This” badge.

Another example is when the girls learned the song, “Land of the Silver Birch.” At our sleepover, we showed them a video of the lyrics and how the song should be sung. The girls practiced singing it and using the drums they had made. At winter camp, the song came up during campfire and the girls sang it so beautifully. I was beaming with pride when one of the Guiders said she had never heard that song sung so well.
There are so many moments, I can’t really narrow it down, but it does the heart good when you see a girl who is usually painfully shy start opening up or when a girl decides that she wants to take up skating after going to our skating party, or even just having a girl come up to you at the end of a meeting and simply say “thank you.”

All these moments wouldn’t be possible without the great bunch of Guiders in the Milles-Iles District. From the Spark Guiders to the Pathfinder Guiders, each one of them works really hard to make sure every Girl Guide in our district reaches her Girl Greatness.

P.S. Here’s a joke one of our Brownies told us towards  her “Tell It” badge: What do you call a cow that eats grass? — A lawn mooer.

Still cracks me up…

Guest post by Sheryl Quimpo, of St-Eustache, Quebec. Sheryl volunteers with the 1st Two Mountain Brownies in Milles-Iles District. Shared with permission from an original post on Guides Québec BLOG.

Thank you to our volunteers for giving girls the chance to make new friends, challenge themselves and put their ideas into action through an amazing range of activities. Happy National Volunteer Week!

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