Volunteers

As soon as your kids start school, the requests begin.  In preschool, it might start simple, reading a story to the class, making a meal for a family with a new baby, helping coordinate the teacher gift and end of year party.  If you say yes to a few of these, the requests grow - you might be the room parent, a member of the consignment sale committee, or even the parent council president in training.  Then comes elementary school, and with it, the PTA.

Tonight I went to the final PTA meeting of the year at my son's elementary school (also my alma mater), and I think that all of the moms and dads who commit to help out for an entire academic year deserve a thank you latte.  These people make a huge time commitment in order to be advocates for our children.  

I know that sometimes it's hard to find time to catch up on the mail and housework, much less time to volunteer at the school, but give it a try.  My latte today is to go to a PTA meeting.  They actually love to have few new faces in attendance, and you just might learn something.  And the really great thing is that if you chair a committee, you will actually get a thank you latte - my favorite kind!