1. Forget it and move on. This is attractive because my motto is "We can only do what we can do". Remember that we are ALL volunteers. I know it is hard but imagine that you are the pres and the former chair comes up and volunteers again. What do you say? "Forget it - you didn't follow through last year!". Not very politically correct, and if they are friends even worse!
2. Swallow your pride and volunteer to "help" the chair. This is attractive because you will "learn" from her plus you will be on hand to make sure that the event goes off even if she flakes again.
EVERY group has someone like that woman. I'm dealing with one now who wanted an event, pushed for the event, promised to run the event and now is pushing all the work on everyone else and taking all the credit!! Not very fun but what can I do??
Sometimes being in a "management" position means you need to swallow your pride and just go along. Hard sometimes but that is just the way it is. Keep in mind that you are doing this for your kids, all the kids at the school and that the GREATEST reward you will get is their pride in you and your pride in yourself!
I brought the subject of Mayfest up at our PTA meeting tonight. I slipped it by questioning the correctness of the flyer that had gone out last week.
I wanted to double check to see if it was a typo, when committee assignments came up I told them that I was not happy that they had offered chair of mayfest to the Mom that quit last year.
I asked what had changed that they felt that this Mom could work with us again? (Nothing - she was the one stirring the pot last year!)
Then the Treasurer said that we would have to vote on it at the next PTA meeting and that this other Mom would be requested to attend the meeting to "defend herself". The key here is that she wasn't at tonight's meeting anyway. She hasn't made regular meetings for the 2+ years that I've been on PTA.
I hate to admit it but, I did quit. I am just tired of being kicked and ignored. I've told them before that they don't get volunteers because people don't feel welcome. I've been putting up with the slights because I care about the school (this was my elem school 30 years ago)and the kids. Now with them choosing the do nothing rabblerouser over me - I've had it. I hate to do it to the other kids - but, I see no point in distressing my own kids to put up with this treatment.
Chin up there mom! Remember why we do what we do - go in and take a peak at those 2 cuties sleeping down the hall and know that because you are involved in their school, the school is a better place for them and for all of their friends, too. Let them all see from your example that we don't quit when the chips are down, we make dip to go with the chips!
And who knows, maybe she'll quit again leaving you to come in and save the day!
I am the 1st vice president for the PTA. Last year I stepped in to run Mayfest when the chair suddenly decided that "someone stabbed her in the back and she couldn't work with that person."
There was no documentation on what was done and what needed to be done. At the end of a 2 hour meeting this chair person and the pta pres gave me a verbal "dump" of whos and whats. That is it. I plugged on - the night before the event the PTA President & the "former chair" (who couldn't let go) stood in the lobby of the school and had the audacity to say - "If you didn't know what was involved you shouldn't have volunteered."
That ticked me off as it was. How can you chair an event like Mayfest and quit 8 weeks before the event? How dare they knock a volunteer like that?! They wonder why no one volunteers!
Anyway this year - I find out that they made the former chairperson of Mayfest Chair again! :confused: I didn't even get asked if I wanted to give it a whirl again - and I'm a VP?
I'm so discouraged I'm ready to quit and form my own booster club or PTO.
How dare they knock a volunteer like that?! They wonder why no one volunteers!
