Watermelon Seed Spitting

That's a life skill, right?

Rhetta had her Girl Scout kick-off meeting and is one excited little girl. She had gone to sleep talking about registration and it was the first thing she said when she opened her eyes the next morning, making her Daddy giggle since he was the one waking her up.

She is a new Brownie and has already earned her first patch (not badge, patch.) I promised her I'd show her how to attach it to her uniform which made us both realize we don't know what the Brownie uniform looks like. Is it a sash or a vest? I don't know! Couldn't have changed that much since I was a Girl Scout, could it have? In fact, I think it's less uniform than in the old days when we had dresses and hats and sashes. We got all of our uniforms at Goodwill-ies. They had a rack of them so lots of sizes and styles to choose from. I can't think I've ever seen a GS uniform in a thrift store around here. Maybe we can make her one! I think she'd like that.

While people were arriving the kids ate watermelon with express instructions to save their seeds for spitting. Rhetta had spent some time going from one huddle of girls to another trying to make friends. I let her do that until she decided to sit by herself, not really giving up but done socializing, then I steered her to her troop so she could sit with them. After snacking and carefully saving their seeds they all gathered into a circle for introductions.

She did so well with her public speaking. Gathered were several troops from our area of the county. They began by (re)learning the three fingered salute. Then each girl spoke in turn their name, where they're from and what they are looking forward to. Rhetta didn't need any direction. She spoke clearly and loud enough for everyone to hear her name and town and said, "I love to have fun with all my new friends." So sweet. I told her later how proud I was of how well she spoke and she said, "Momma? Did I enunciate?" I said, yes she enunciated very well (this from a conversation they have frequently on the school bus). She asked, "Am I well?" LOL Yes, you are well but being well is different from doing something well. Such things spark interesting conversations.

After the introductions were through they separated into groups which then formed in circles around some hula hoops set out flat on the ground. On a signal from their leader they commenced spitting as many seeds as possible in a set time limit into their hula hoops. The group with the most seeds in their hoop won. It's all in fun as everyone got a prize and a patch, and got to spit. One girl was very serious about her spitting. She had sat practicing before the meet and greet by standing some distance away from her friend who held a paper plate. She would then aim for the plate, hit her target, and ask the girl to back up a pace and start again. I was very impressed at her accuracy! Girls crack me up sometimes.

So we have a Brownie now with spitting skills and she couldn't be happier to be a part of a "club". I wonder what patch comes next, Booger Flinging?