Who would’ve thought that being an adult volunteer with Girl Scouts would pay such dividends? Obviously there’s the bonding with one’s own child and building experiences for all in the troop. But the connections between the grown females is what always moves me.

At our troop’s camp-out this year, another mom and I rallied the girls to set up an oversized see-saw contraption. Essentially a wooden dock on a fulcrum, we had to slide it from ramp position to a teetering position so as to ‘ride the waves’. Two grown adults couldn’t do it by themselves and everything Girl Scouts is GIRL-led, so the entire troop found a spot and together we lifted and slid the slab into place.

As the girls leapt onto the sloshing see-saw one by one and experimented with movement and weight distribution, the mom and I marveled at the power of the physical example right in front of our faces.

Teamwork. Small actions combining for a great force. Empowerment. Goal realization.

I remarked how important it was for girls to be in an environment solely for them with ample space for their voices and desires. This led into a conversation about this mom’s experience as a personal and fitness coach, saying that a young man in the administration of her organization had tried to offer tips for improving her practices. She and her core group had already found an incredibly enriching and cohesive bond. She, as a woman, in a different age bracket, and a mother, had all she needed to interface with these women. She had lived in experience.

“There is such power when women gather,” I said.

“Absolutely,” she said. “Especially when it’s a space just for them.”

We looked at each other knowingly, nodding, and I know my eyes were certainly filling.

And all that from a cold, rainy, muddy weekend at camp strong-arming a wooden raft into a precarious – or perfectly balanced – position.

But the community and calm knowing that comes from a gathering of women is what I want to celebrate and what I know to be at the core of maternal mental health.