Volunteer, but don't over-volunteer

Our grocery store has this program wherein you can save register tapes in bundles of $1000, and return them to the store in exchange for $2 toward your charity or community group. It’s a pretty low-effort way to fundraise some money, but the actual sorting and counting of the receipts is very time-consuming.

I’ve done a couple bundles already this year, but a new box of receipts is sitting on my filing cabinet, and I know it’s unlikely I’ll get to them before the summer. So I finally smartened up and asked the principal to please advertise for a new volunteer in the next school newsletter.

I remind myself: if I don’t have time to get it done, there’s nothing wrong with admitting that and passing on the job to someone else who has the time to do it. Just because I’m chair of the school council doesn’t mean I need to feel personally responsible for getting all these little jobs done.

Being a squeaky wheel pays off. Although I didn’t complain about it, I made it clear to the principal that if someone else were available to cover my shifts for the break supervisions, I would be more than willing to give it up.

Today – hooray! – he let me know he’d found another person to take over for me. I’m off the hook. No more dragging Bubs and Mouse with me! Happy, happy day!

for the school’s Pancake Tuesday lunch. Then got an email from another mom who said she’d be happy to do it, if I wanted to turn the task over to her. Old me would have said, “Oh no, that’s fine. I’ll do it.” But new me said, “Thanks! That would be really helpful! I appreciate your offer!” Slowly learning…

Be forewarned: always be very sure of what you are agreeing to, before you agree.

The principal came in to the kindergarten room while I was there, with a schedule in hand. He pointed out two afternoons to me with no one scheduled to work, and asked me if I could possibly consider working those days. I thought he meant only those two specific days, and I said okay. Today, opening Bubs’ backpack after school, I found a schedule with my name on it for those two afternoons, every week from now till June. And then I realized the misunderstanding, and I was assailed by a giant sense of OOPS.

However, looking at it, I realize the two afternoons I’m scheduled for are afternoons I wouldn’t normally get anything else done, anyway. One day is a day that Bubs and Mouse are home with me, and I already have his okay to bring them along… so it really amounts to them having some snack time and then some outdoor play time with the other kindergarten kids that afternoon. The other day is the day I normally have to pick up C for piano after the break, so I’ll just being going to the school 40 minutes early, doing my stint, then leaving with C for his lesson.

I could go back to the principal and say I misunderstood what I was agreeing to – but only having to do it 2 out of 10 shifts a week, and at times that are relatively convenient for me… it doesn’t seem so bad. And it really helps out the school. And it won’t interfere with my ‘free’ days or my goals. And it’s only until June.

So, after thinking about it, I’ve decided to go with it. And I feel okay about it.

I’m too nice. The principal just phoned and asked me if I could work next week, doing the kindergarten nutrition break supervision. He’s still trying to hire someone full time, but nobody has been confirmed yet, and he desperately needs someone to do it (he even said I could bring Bubs & Mouse on the days when they aren’t in school).

There was no reason for me to agree to do it, other than to help him out. It is a paid position, but the pay is so little (it’s only 2 forty minute periods a day) it’s not something I’d do for the money. I console myself that at least I had enough gumption to say that I’d only do it until he could hire someone else.

• stocking food cupboard duties have been greatly reduced. Instead of me making up individual bagged lunches, they are now happy to have me leave crackers and granola bars in the cupboard for emergency snacks. That’s much less work.

• A volunteer has been found for the school boundaries committee – yay!

• will still advertise for grocery tape counter in the Jan newsletter

• AND, proud of myself – I resisted volunteering for kindergarten lunchroom duty. It was hard, but I managed not to volunteer.

Things I have to do, as school council chair:

• set agenda & run monthly meetings
• meet monthly with principal
• write council blurb monthly for school newsletter

One-time things I’ve already said I would do:

• playground proposal done
• getting school ice skates sharpened
• writing stuff for science fair almost done

On-going things I could try to find someone else to do:

• counting grocery receipts could advertise for a volunteer in next school newsletter
• stocking food cupboard might continue through this year, and find someone for next year
• serving on school boundaries committee have indicated that I would prefer to have another volunteer do this – see if there are any takers!

I’m serving as chair of the kids’ school council this year (again), but it’s a job that can easily escalate if one doesn’t set limits. Being the chair doesn’t mean I have to be personally responsible for everything. Already, I’ve got a number of things on my plate:

• setting the agenda for and chairing each of the remaining monthly meetings for the school year
• putting together the proposal for the playground grant (due Dec 15th)
• meeting with principal, monthly
• get school’s ice skates sharpened
• counting grocery receipts for the year
• stocking the school food cupboard
• joining committee to discuss school boundaries
• preparing print materials for the upcoming science fair
• helping write pages for the school website
• writing monthly blurb for the school newsletter

See? How quickly it escalates. Little jobs come up, nobody else wants to do them, and I say, “Yeah, I can do that, I guess.” And suddenly, I’ve got more than I can do!

So, along with getting all these things done, I also need to ensure that I don’t volunteer to take responsibility for any other projects for the school. It’s okay for me to say no. I don’t need to take responsibility for everything.

• donate blood some time in Jan/Feb (make an appt at my Dec 15th donation appt)
• volunteer 1.5 hours every other week in Bubs’ kindergarten class