Volunteering

So.....my family has been here for two days already, and I have spent all of a few hours with them. I have been in the middle of a very time consuming project for the school.

Funny thing about volunteering; everyone who isn't volunteering has an opinion. EVERYONE!

This makes volunteering even more stressful than it already is. The truth is (go with me on this), most people absolutely do NOT "want" to volunteer their time. Not because we are selfish, but because we are busy and it is yet one more thing that will keep us from spending time with our family. And for a lot of us - that time is already scarce.

We volunteer because we know it is either us.....or no one!

'Big deal', you say? Let it go undone?

Okay...go and tell your child there will be no science camp. No yearbook, (not to mention pictures) no art masters at school, no extra activities and for the fifth graders...no DVD to remember this special year (and probably no special year.)

And that isn't even the tip of the iceberg. Without volunteers, the kids would simply get to sit in their class and read books all day. It would affect their character, who they are and what they experience.

Sad.....but true. Volunteers make this stuff happen. And enthusiastic volunteers make it happen really well.

But as I sit at my desk, working on this DVD, I am getting questions and comments that stress me out. "Are you getting paid for that.". or, "Why are you putting so much time in it". And my favorite; "Who cares? Just slap them in and get it done!"

Clearly, these are words from people who don't get it.

It takes me back to a time when a friend asked for my help. I had to draw the line, because I was at the Renaissance Faire and promised my family that I wouldn't work on this day. My friend ended up really struggling to get her project done without my help. And when I asked her, "Why are you putting so much effort out there for someone else's kids? And her answer haunts me to this day, "If not me, then who?"

Spoken like a true volunteer.  Someone who is there for MY kid in MY absence!!!

In a perfect world, everyone would take their two percent and donate equally. But in reality, it just doesn't work that way. It never has. There are always some who give all....and those who give none.  And thank God to the children who have no one to represent them that there are these angels that fly among them.  So they too, can have the same experience as everyone else.

This year I have been more towards the none side. It was a conscious decision, because my schedule doesn't permit a lot of volunteer time.

So as I sit all weekend, putting in the pictures donated to me by the volunteers who gave, while I couldn't....I will honor their efforts with mine. And though it may take a little family time out of my day, the memories we will be presenting to our children, will last a lifetime.

It takes a village.......

That is what volunteering is about. 

Happy Monday