The secret’s out!

Holy Timing, Batman!

Despite what I said earlier, I felt like I was running out of errands (well – all except for the stupid ones like finally using my 3 month old gift card to the make-up store; clearly not very pressing)…when what to my wondering eyes should appear?! The school Volunteer Handbook (which is chock full of all sorts of excellent volunteer opportunities just waiting for volunteers.)

Rest assured that I was moderated in my volunteering approach, not committing to any chair positions or really any large jobs that might take place in the second half of the year. Because, remember, my stay at home mom gig is just temporary. I am actually seeking full-time employment (Hi, Unemployment Agency!).

What I did commit to volunteering for is: Book Fair, Annual Fundraising Auction, Father/Daughter Dance, Field Day (actually I signed my husband up for that. Surprise, Honey!), Teacher Appreciation Luncheons, Coaching (surprise again, Honey!) and Hot Lunch.

The funny thing is that I would have signed up to help with all of these things anyway whether I had a job or not. Well, all except for Hot Lunch. I haven’t done that before. But for years the kids have been begging me to do it. I don’t see what the appeal is there. Serve lunch to a bunch of monkeys who can barely keep the food on their tray?! And what do the kids get out of it? A chance to ignore their mother while acting like they’ve been elected chief monkey?? The only thing I can figure is that the stay at home moms do it because it fits nicely into the slot between meeting-for-coffee-after-school-drop-off and meeting-for-lunch-at-the-new-place-we’ve-been-wanting-to-try.

So…I sent off a text to my stay at home mom friends (yes, I actually have them despite being mystified by them) asking for guidance on the Hot Lunch thing. The end result? Hot Lunch only needs to be volunteered for once a month. No explanation given, but the monkeys must be worse than I thought. And as suspected, it DOES fit nicely into the schedule gap I just mentioned!! But mostly now everyone is in an uproar about me being a stay at home mom too! Which is an unintended consequence of the text (or is it?! Mwa ha ha – evil laugh). On the upside, due to the inner workings of the school communication channels, everyone will know before the day is out which now relieves me of the awkward conversations and disclosures. Phew!

But come on, people! While I’m glad the job-take is finally out there, why is it causing such a stir?! Perhaps they all loved my job as much as I did? Frankly, it did give me an excuse to give up the can-totally-be-done-another day errands, and it gave me a reason to dress up most days. My hair was usually in a cute style and not hidden constantly under a ball cap or other trendy chapeau every morning. I had a good reason to skip exercising and to go out to dinner rather than making it after a long day. And I didn’t feel guilty about having cleaning ladies come in every other week. But mostly…it gave me a chance to volunteer at school!!

One thought on “The secret’s out!

  1. Pingback: Wednesday – Week 4 | New Stay at Home Mom

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