Friday, February 25

No.... Just.... No

In addition to the many numbers of responsibilities I have as a full time Widget Employee I am also a full time mother (I tried to find someone to job share but its a hard position to fill when you don't have much to offer in the way of pay other than the occasional Snickerdoodle crumb) and somehow find myself a full time slave to a youth sports organization.

Then ThePrincess joined another activity and I was asked to help out there. 

BeggingVolunteerGetter:  Hello Cursingmama!  We are so glad that ThePrincess decided to join our fire juggling troupe that practices on Mondays, Wednesdays and every other Saturday for 23 hours at a time.

CursingMama:  Yes, she is very excited at making the Fire Juggling Troupe.

BeggingVolunteerGetter:  She will make an excellent trapeze juggler, I'm sure you know we have a hard time finding girls willing to juggle fire with nothing but their bare feet while suspended upside down from a trapeze.  She is a very talented girl!

CursingMama:  Yes, she is very excited about the prospect of learning to juggle under pressure. 

BeggingVolunteerGetter:  That's why I'm calling!  As I'm sure you've heard every year we host a 10 day Fire Juggling Troupe Show to raise money to offset the cost of training our members and to pay world renowned fire juggling choreographers and fire eaters to come in and help the kids be the best Fire Juggling Troupe in the world. 

CursingMama: I believe I received twelve emails, three letters, an overnight package, and 45 text messages about that.

BeggingVolunteerGetter:  Good!  I'm so glad you're willing to help chair a committee this year. You know, not every high school is fortunate enough to offer this opportunity to their students. 

CursingMama: Yes we are very luck to have this at St. High School

BeggingVolunteerGetter: 
That's fantastic!  I never dreamed you'd head the hospitality committee by yourself.  You are the kind of parent that warms our hearts at St. High School.  I really am surprised by the number of parents who won't commit to more than the minimum requirement.

CursingMama: No... just.... no...


I am helping, just not the way they had hoped. I am a bare minimum helper.....I learned to say "No"!

I think this is what we call a break through and I didn't even have to pay anyone to get there.

Of course the catholic guilt...well she is still an issue.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you!

Mr. M

Chris said...

What are you going to do with all of your free time when both kids are done with high school? :)

Kim said...

Forget baby steps; you just made one giant leap for Mamakind!

Anonymous said...

NO is a very empowering word. Trouble is when the volunteer-getters come around next year. And the next. And the next. But maybe by then your kids will be out of h.s. and you can have some time FOR YOURSELF! (Hey, this empty nest thingie is great!)

Keri said...

Say it loud and say it proud... NO NO NO!

Do it for all the Catholic Mama's in the world. You make us all a little stronger when you do. We need you to help shore us up. Really. We do. Some of us are fading fast.