Some of you may have noticed I joined Twitter today.  I know absolutely nothing about it except that my husband has been telling me for some time now that I should be on it.  For a few years now, Edie’s had teachers that tweet info to parents, which Pat has used to tell me I should be on Twitter.  So what happened today that made me change my mind?

This.

@ccswalker – Becky Calvert is Walker’s PTO president. Looking for parents who want to get involved (beckycalvert@gmail.com or xxx-xxx-xxxx)

— Walker School (@ccswalker) August 27, 2013

Which, if I was any good at deciphering all this code business would show up as a pretty embedded tweet.  Pat saw this and emailed it to me.   I suppose if I’m going to be talked about on Twitter, I should actually be on there, huh?

Although between you & me, the real reason I’m on there is because I need to drum up volunteers every way possible.  Not only am I the current PTO president, I am also the Vice President, Secretary AND Treasurer.  I AM the PTO.    I don’t mind standing up and helping out – as the parent of an only child,  I understand that if you have more than one child, chances are you are at more than one school around town and those schools have PTO’s and activities as well.  I also understand that at this stage of parenting we are at the chauffeuring stage, where all we do is drive them around.  I have one child and she has somewhere to be every day, sometimes two places to be every day – and every parent I know has at least one day a week for the entire school year that is an absolute train wreck, a day that starts out busy from the moment you get out of bed until you manage to crawl into bed after a very long day, the sort of day where you have to be three places at once.  Honestly, just one kid wipes me out – I do not know how those of you with more than that do this, especially those of you who work for a living.  I might be good at juggling multiple things, but juggling an office job with running a family is not something I am good at.

I single handedly ran a Girl Scout troop for 5 years as well as the end of the year class picnic for Edie’s entire grade all through elementary school.  Granted, that was a small group of girls whose mothers I made pitch in on a regular basis as well as a class of less than 50 kids whose parents I all knew fairly well and by the end of fourth grade, I could tell you exactly who was going to bring what, who was going to show up to help me set up without me even asking,  who was going to call the night before in a panic that the form they had filled out and stuck in their child’s backpack was still sitting in that backpack and who was going to call the morning of asking me what I lacked.

Still, these experiences led me to believe I could do this, that I could single handedly run an entire PTO of a school of some 600 or so children.  I’m the sort that if no one else steps up, then I will.  I may be in over my head though.  Or am I? I have had a number of parents tell me they can’t commit to being in charge, but are more than willing to do whatever.  I have a nice handful of other only child families that I know I can count on to volunteer at events as well as a few mom friends I can rope in even if they are busy elsewhere.  I am good with peer pressure and having been raised Catholic, attended Catholic school from kindergarten through high school graduation, I am confident in my ability to lay down a guilt trip without breaking a sweat or heaving a single sigh.  I was always on the sign committee in college – whether it was for a party with friends or for one of the organizations my adviser would volunteer me to be in because it would look good on my resume – I always ended up in charge of signs, which has paid off in my ability to whip out a good looking flyer in no time flat.  I’ve recruited volunteers for a living at one point.  I tend to think that whatever any parent can contribute is worthwhile. In the past I’ve heard that it’s good to volunteer for things I organize because I’m so laid back and appreciate every effort.  This is where being type A minus rocks.  I’m good at looking like I’m in charge, but I’m better at just getting everyone else involved to do it for me.    Which is great, only right now, I’m the only one that’s lined up ready to go.

Oh boy.