Four will show up
And eight will not call;
I really don't know
Why I do this at all.

We make plans for camp.
Two nights and three days.
It takes them an hour
To choose grape Kool-Aid!

Not worth it, I think.
Do they care, I ask?
It's just what I need,
One more thankless task.

Then one of them smiles
And rolls out the dough.
"My mother won't let me
Bake cookies, you know."

We mop up the paint.
And I hear from one,
"Let's do it again
I had so much fun."

The first time away
In tents in the rain
One hugs me and says
"I'm so glad I came."

So when I feel low
And ask myself "Why?"
I try to picture
The look in that eye.

The grin on that face,
That one homemade card -
A leader's reward -
A little girl's heart.