Monthly Archives: June 2020

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Is there a thing as too much volunteering?

I have a problem. That is the first step – admitting it.

I definitely have a problem.

And it isn’t that I can’t say no. It is that I love being involved.

I love being involved in my kids’ schools and knowing what is happening. It is this love for volunteering and being involved that has led me to my current predicament. I now have 4 volunteer positions. Yep, you read that right. In addition to working part-time and writing a novel, I will fill the rest of my time with lots of volunteering.

Middle School PTA

This past school year, I was PTA President for the middle school. It has been a crazy year with the last fourth of it being done from home. That didn’t stop my volunteering, there was still awards to pass out, staff appreciation, PTA elections, and end of the year money to distribute. And I survived. I’ve always said that the second year of a position is easier. Yep, I am PTA president for another – and final – year. But unlike this year, I don’t have a full staff. I am hoping to fill those positions at the beginning of the school year. If they don’t get filled, it means more work for me.

High School PTSA

This is my first year with a child at the high school. I know nothing about the programs or activities here. I didn’t want to jump into a big commitment so no officer position. (I’ve done the officer at two PTA thing before and nope, not again.) They listed off some very low key jobs. Boring. So, I went with communications. Basically, I post on Facebook and do a quarterly newsletter. At least it is a position I can do from home. And it will be a good way to learn everything the PTA does.

Council PTA

I didn’t expect or seek out a position on the North East Council of PTAs (a group that oversees all the PTAs in our school district), but I have a friend who is an officer and well…I told her I might consider a position if it was small and not too time consuming. So now, I am in charge of training. No, I don’t have to train anyone or even book the room for the training. I merely send out sign ups for training, make the sign in sheet that is then emailed out to the person doing the training and then keep track of which PTAs have members attend training. (The school with the highest attendance wins a paid trip to the state PTA conference in Dallas.) All of this can be done from home.

Orchestra Association 

Now before I joined the High School PTSA and Council PTA, I attended a meeting about the high school orchestra. It had been a scheduled parent orientation meeting that of course had to become a Zoom meeting due to stay at home orders. At the beginning, the president of the Orchestra association spoke. They do fundraising, help out with concerts, and throw parties/dinners for the students. Sounds like something I would be joining so I sent an email…next thing you know, I am in charge of the programs for the concerts. It was that or t-shirts. Again, mostly something I can do from home.

So, needless to say, I will be busy next school year. Have I overextended myself? I don’t think so. I think I have the time to contribute to each of these groups. But only time will tell if that is true.

 

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Keeping the kids busy this summer

School has technically been out for the past week and a half though the kids finished their distance learning the week before that. And now that we are officially into summer, it is time for my annual “What we are doing this summer” post. This year is a little different since we are still in the midst of our state reopening businesses.

Pool/Water Park

I love the free option of our neighborhood pool. It just opened at the end of May with a limit of 20 people to keep with the social distancing. It is usually empty in the mornings so that is when we will go.

We also have a season pass to Six Flags. We bought them so we could use their water park. But as I write this, Six Flags has not reopened yet. When it does, you will need a reservation to get in. And I don’t know yet if the water park section will be open. We will just have to wait and see.

Chores

Every summer, I make sure the kids do some extra chores throughout the summer. I like to call these “life skills.”  They include laundry, cooking, grocery shopping and cleaning. Last year we did a new food each week which went over well. This year, I just added some new foods to the cooking assignments.

Violin/Driving Lessons

During the summer, getting Jase to practice his violin instead of playing video games can be hard but luckily, he still has his weekly tutoring sessions, and Dr. K will certainly expect him to practice between meetings. And if all goes as planned, he should have an orchestra camp at the high school before school starts.

Jase also turned 15 recently and today will be getting his learner’s permit. We have signed up for an online course that guides him through learning the rules of the road while we do all the actual driving lessons with him. Since my husband works, I expect that I will be doing a lot of the lessons. (Yikes!)

Summer Trip

And in between these activities, we do have one summer trip planned. Originally, the kids and I planned to go to New Orleans with my parents. But due to the pandemic, we changed our plan and will go to go to South Padre Island for a few days of beach fun.

Hopefully, I will be able to balance keeping the kids busy with them playing video games. I’m sure all too soon it will be time to think about back to school.