Currently... Recovering from #GirlPop2015 & #GOTRMoco15

It was a busy weekend and I haven’t fully recovered yet.  I'm currently, looking back on a girl-filled weekend.

I took my Girl Scouts to #GirlPop2015 in Philadelphia. Hosted by the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, it was a full day of guest speakers and breakout workshops on topics relevant to girls.  There were sessions on careers in fashion design and food, STEM and sports, media and entrepreneurship.  Moms also had options; I went to sessions about entrepreneurship and images in the media.  Keynote speakers included Shiza Shahid, co-founder of the Malala Fund; Vivienne Harr, who raised over $100,000 to fight child slavery – when she was 8 years old (only a few years ago), and Dr. Aprille Joy Ericsson, a real-life rocket scientist.  The girls were particularly excited about Mone’ Davis, the star of last year’s Little League Baseball, and Matthew Shuler, a performer from The Voice.  It was a different experience for them, they were expecting something more hands-on. But now, as they are getting older (they’re preparing to go into high school), it was a good next step, of listening and paying attention.

We also had our Girls on the Run 5K this weekend.  This is our fourth season of having a GOTR team at our elementary school and it’s just as exciting as the first season.  Getting the girls to actually run/walk 3 miles is an accomplishment, but it’s the personal development along the way that really makes this program worthwhile.  This season, I’ve had these comments from our girls:

• One with a recurring pain in her foot, who usually does not walk or run, was determined to finish the race.  When we practice, she said that if she goes slow and takes time to stretch her foot, she could finish.  And she did!  (Don’t worry, Mom and doctor knew she was involved in the program.)
• One of our girls has asthma and she was so proud of herself one day when she was having a really good run. She said it was the best she had done in two seasons. A later practice, the weather was awful and she had to walk most of the course and she was disappointed that her pace wasn’t the same. But she finished, knowing that she could do better and she was learning to manage her health.

It's comments like these, when you see the girls actually seeing the potential in themselves, that trumps the sore muscles and tired feet.

I slept very little, drove a couple hundred miles, and spent hours with my daughters. It was a good weekend.

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