As I've mentioned before, I sit on the parent committee at Rebekah's preschool as the president. We all get together once a month to plan our fundraisers and go over the things we've already done to see what we can do better next time. We have one mom who serves as our treasurer and thinks that she is in charge of everything and we all need to bow down to her. Every time we plan something she suddenly comes up with a better idea the next day and then takes over to make everything the way that she wants it to be. Then the rest of us sit in a dizzying spin wondering what happened and why on earth we even bother having meetings or a committee. She seems to think that she IS the committee after all.
Last year I was also on the committee as president when Raven went to that preschool and we had a wonderful committee. When we had meetings we all shared and listened to each other's ideas and then tried to incorporate as many of them into our fundraisers as we could. I loved being part of the committee so much that I decided that I'd do it again this year. I also enjoyed so much being the president last year and all the stuff I got to do as such. This year and this group of parents has really made me want to be out.
Tonight we had our monthly meeting and have been planning for the art show that happens next week. The art show is our biggest fundraiser for the year. We sell sausages and steak sandwiches, drinks, there is face painting, raffles galore and this year we even got fun light sticks with swords and a fiber optics to sell. So we proceed to talk about all the stuff we need to organise and then we come down to raffle prizes. We took inventory of what we have to raffle off (we've all been out hitting up businesses for donations). We have a voucher for $80 worth of dinner at a restaurant, an Avon basket, a really nice cake, a tent, a couple of other things and our big prize is a couple of really nice sets from Tupperware (earned at a party the preschool hosted). This mom decides that the set of Tupperware and some of the big prizes shouldn't just be "given away in a raffle," that instead we need to do a silent auction for them. Now granted, the one Tupperware set is supposedly a $300 (aud) value, so I see the point in maybe getting a little more money from it, but we didn't pay a cent for it-it was given to us. So I suggested some other ideas to raffle it off and get a bit more money instead of a silent auction where many of the parents on as tight a budget as we are won't even bid. Isn't the point of a raffle to get a prize that is worth much more than the ticket(s) you paid for? Of course not, it has to be HER way or the highway(she could afford to just go out and buy the set straight out). Every idea I gave was shot down almost faster than I could say it. The teacher looked like she was trying to iron out the best way and still get some money for it. I gave in. A silent auction might not be too bad and we'll probably still make some money for it and maybe the bids will stay low enough that I'll have a chance to win it too-she was talking about $30 or $40 being the finishing bid. So we move on with our planning.
Toward the end of the meeting she suddenly decides, out of nowhere, that we need to set a minimum bid for this set and it should be no lower than $50. Now, I love Tupperware as much as the next person, but there is a reason why my kitchen is NOT full of it. Tupperware is expensive. As much as I like the stuff, I just can't rationalize spending that much money on something that a $1 container will do just as well. a $50 minimum bid just put me out of the running altogether, and probably many other parents as well. Yes, we live in a really nice house and we have some nice things. But I'll be the first to tell you that we don't pay for our house, we don't pay for our utilities and the only reason I can even afford my groceries is because the military gives us a cost of living allowance on top of our pay that almost covers the groceries we use each month. From each paycheck I have about $150 that I can use, after groceries and bills, to buy other things. This paycheck it's buying new school shoes and church shoes for my ever growing children and then that money is gone. So, a $50 minimum bid just shot me out of the running altogether.
What bothers me more is that only 1 other mom agreed to this and the rest just kept quiet. They're under the impression that this lady just doesn't give up and that fighting her won't make a difference. Well, it will, cause on a committee the majority rules. That means that if only 3 of us say anything and 2 are for and 1 is against, that the 2 will win. It doesn't matter that the other 4 didn't agree, they didn't day anything so they lose. OPEN YOUR MOUTHS AND SPEAK UP!
I'm so frustrated with the way this lady takes over-maybe we should make her the president, vice president, secretary AND treasurer, she thinks she owns the place anyway. Who needs a committee when she takes over anyway.
Josh and I have come up with a much better idea to approach this raffle/silent auction thing and I plan to take it to the teacher tomorrow, alone if I have to. I just hope that she understands where I'm coming from and that other parents just aren't made of money that way. And, that there is so much more money to be made with a raffle as opposed to an auction anyway($10 per family times several who will put in for it adds up much faster).
Ok, that's the end of my rant. I hope it makes sense. If not, then I'm sorry but it made things a little more clear to me anyway, and isn't that what counts?
Me with Raven and Rebekah AKA, the girls
Josh with Caleb, Josiah and Noah AKA, the boys
The kids: Caleb, Raven, Rebekah, Noah and Josiah
And Josh and I