PTO

At the end of last (school) year, a PTO planning meeting was called for my kids' elementary school. I have always joined PTO but I have never gotten involved (i.e. going to the PTO meetings, joining the board, etc). I wanted to help my kids' classes get a pizza party or whatever the prize is for having the most parents join PTA/PTO, but that's as far as I've ever gone. In the past few years, I've been a room mom for the kids' classes & have enjoyed that, but it's mostly just a matter of organizing who will bring what to a party & sending home a note to remind them.

So back to that planning meeting. It fell on a day I was off work. I don't remember what the occasion or holiday was, but my school was out. So I went. There were 6 of us there. They were filling positions that day. Yes, you guessed it....I left there with a job that day. Actually, it was the only one that I felt competant to do, so I pounced on it before someone else took it & left me with being vice president or something!

What did I sign up for you ask? Room Representative Chairman.
What did I sign up for you ask? ha ha! It's the room mom coordinator for our campus.

The first week of school, I emailed all the teachers & introduced myself & asked them to let me know who they would be having for their room mom this year. I heard back from about 5 of the 36 teachers. :::sigh:::

The second week of school, I put a note in the boxes of all the teachers I had not heard from, against asking for a room mom name & contact info. I gave them a deadline of a couple weeks. At the end of that timeframe, I still had about 10-11 teachers who had not responded. :::beats head against wall:::

I sent a 2nd email to all those remaining teachers. No reply.

I gave up on some of the teachers & just hoped that they'd send SOMEONE to the meeting I called today.

I stood up in front of all these moms & went through a little folder of paperwork & info I had made for them. It had all the forms and letters they'd need for the year. I read them all, explained everything, answered questions and oh yeah....I wiped sweat from my face & fanned myself throughout. Good grief........clearly, I am made to work with children & not adults.

I walked the hallways & handed out folders to all the teachers whose room mom didn't show up today. Some gave me some funny looks when I walked in & said "could you send this home with the child of your room mom?". Clearly they were still ticked about the emails & notes in their box. :)

As I drove home, I realized two or three things that I don't believe I covered. Oh well. I guess I did my best & my job is done. Now I can relax & just be a room mom and a regular parent again. I'm still part of the PTO board, but my "job" for the year is finished. Whew!