Today, I got yet another notice of a “mandatory” parent meeting, a few days from now.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not the first, but the first from this particular organization.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not work-related, and not an organization of which I am a member… but like the others, a group of which my children are members.<\/p>\n
Note to the folks who orchestrate these things:<\/em> the likelihood of my participation drops to near zero if you call a mandatory meeting without first asking whether I’m available, and providing information about the subject matter.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, I’ve already been to far too many of these (all associated with my children’s activities, not my own) where, after I’ve cancelled something far more important, I learn that the subject of the mandatory parent meeting is simply to provide information that could have been sent in an e-mail.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, the very same e-mail sent to demand my presence.<\/p>\n It’s odd, but I’ve never had a notice that a parent-teacher conference was mandatory, although I would readily consider it such.\u00c2\u00a0 For that matter, no teacher has ever assigned me a time to show up without first asking when I’m available.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve had children in school for 17 years now, and I’ve never missed a single one.<\/p>\n In three out of four of the groups I’ve gotten mandatory-meeting demands from lately, the topic was the need for volunteers.\u00c2\u00a0 Okay, that could have been handled by e-mail, or a note sent home with my child.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Furthermore, I’m far more likely to volunteer if you don’t first waste an hour or two of my time to make me show up somewhere, just to tell me that you need someone to bring cookies to practice or write an article for the newspaper.<\/p>\n Grouchy?\u00c2\u00a0 You bet.\u00c2 \u00c2\u00a0 I know that everyone’s mother or grandmother taught them the bit about catching more with honey than vinegar (or some variation on that theme), but it seems that all the extracurricular things my kids are involved in have gotten caught up in this business of “mandatory” meetings, while also using the sample of paystubs<\/a> for payments and more.<\/p>\n I suspect that participation will further dwindle as demands escalate.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Mine does.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today, I got yet another notice of a “mandatory” parent meeting, a few days from now.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not the first, but the first from this particular organization.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not work-related, and not an organization of which I am a member… … Continue reading