Wintery weather
Yes, I know its not technically winter yet, but it sure feels like it here! The high for today was in the 40's - and of course, today was the walkathon at A's school. It had initially been scheduled for last Saturday, but they postponed at the last minute when it looked like it might be raining. As it turns out, the rain had ended by around 8 am, so by the start at 11, it would have been fine. Well, today wasn't rainy, but it was awfully cold.
I was scheduled to work in the food booth for half an hour and boy was it cold there - no sun under the tent, so we all had a tendency to huddle just outside the tent in the sun when no one was there to buy baked goods.
I couldn't believe that they didn't have any hot drinks for sale! We could have sold many, many cups of coffee and hot cocoa today. It seems that last year (when it was quite warm - many kids in short sleeves) they offered cocoa and only sold about 5 cups, so they decided not to offer it this year. Even though it was in the upper 30's while I was there. I was very surprised that they didn't find a way to offer hot drinks once they saw (yesterday) how cold it would be today. Luckily I had brought some hot cider in a travel mug - I had assumed they would have drinks, but was afraid it would only be coffee. I was VERY glad to have that cider!
Another thing that was surprising was how few people showed up for the walkathon. And not just because of the cold - they said that only 70 kids had signed up to walk - out of a population of over 500 kids in the school. Big difference from last year. Last year I think they had over 200 kids signed up. Our school population is changing somewhat, but I don't think its changing that fast. I suppose some of it may be the economy also, but I'm still surprised more people didn't sign up to participate, even if they didn't raise much money - there wasn't a minimum to raise to walk.
Because of lack of participation, I ended up working at the food tent for 2 hours instead of the 30 minutes I had signed up for. They really wanted me to help longer, but A was cold and ready to go home (me too). My mom had come by to see A and visit the bake sale (hoping for some coffee) and she ended up staying and helping out for a while after I left.
The lack of participation worries me about the school. I keep hearing that they are having problems getting volunteers for various things. I was at the school Friday helping to take down the book fair and there was only 1 other parent there helping, whereas previous years have usually had 3-5 other parents. I'm not too surprised when I hear of problems getting people to run programs or take on big commitments, but when they have trouble getting people to help out for 30 minutes - that does surprise me.
A managed 15 laps around the track in the 30 minutes they had to walk. And to make that many laps, he alternated running and walking. Way to go A!
After all that cold, I decided a nice big fire would be just the ticket tonight. And it was. It was quite cozy tonight, sitting in front of a roaring fire, playing San Juan.
I was scheduled to work in the food booth for half an hour and boy was it cold there - no sun under the tent, so we all had a tendency to huddle just outside the tent in the sun when no one was there to buy baked goods.
I couldn't believe that they didn't have any hot drinks for sale! We could have sold many, many cups of coffee and hot cocoa today. It seems that last year (when it was quite warm - many kids in short sleeves) they offered cocoa and only sold about 5 cups, so they decided not to offer it this year. Even though it was in the upper 30's while I was there. I was very surprised that they didn't find a way to offer hot drinks once they saw (yesterday) how cold it would be today. Luckily I had brought some hot cider in a travel mug - I had assumed they would have drinks, but was afraid it would only be coffee. I was VERY glad to have that cider!
Another thing that was surprising was how few people showed up for the walkathon. And not just because of the cold - they said that only 70 kids had signed up to walk - out of a population of over 500 kids in the school. Big difference from last year. Last year I think they had over 200 kids signed up. Our school population is changing somewhat, but I don't think its changing that fast. I suppose some of it may be the economy also, but I'm still surprised more people didn't sign up to participate, even if they didn't raise much money - there wasn't a minimum to raise to walk.
Because of lack of participation, I ended up working at the food tent for 2 hours instead of the 30 minutes I had signed up for. They really wanted me to help longer, but A was cold and ready to go home (me too). My mom had come by to see A and visit the bake sale (hoping for some coffee) and she ended up staying and helping out for a while after I left.
The lack of participation worries me about the school. I keep hearing that they are having problems getting volunteers for various things. I was at the school Friday helping to take down the book fair and there was only 1 other parent there helping, whereas previous years have usually had 3-5 other parents. I'm not too surprised when I hear of problems getting people to run programs or take on big commitments, but when they have trouble getting people to help out for 30 minutes - that does surprise me.
A managed 15 laps around the track in the 30 minutes they had to walk. And to make that many laps, he alternated running and walking. Way to go A!
After all that cold, I decided a nice big fire would be just the ticket tonight. And it was. It was quite cozy tonight, sitting in front of a roaring fire, playing San Juan.
posted by owlfan at 10:56 PM
2 Comments:
When my kids were younger and I wasn't working as much, I'd volunteer for everything. I noticed too that over the years they had fewer volunteers. Especially now, I think more people are working, and can't take time to volunteer. Which is sad, nothing made my kids happier than having me helping with their activites.
Now that they're 11 and 13, it's a different story,lol. If I mention helping out at the 7th grade my gives me a look of shock and horror. How things change.
My 7th grader was very happy to have me appear at the parent breakfast (and bring pumpkin bread). He even let me sit with him (I asked).
They haven't had a field trip this year yet, but last year he specifically asked me to go on not one but 2 field trips. I know it won't last forever, but I'm still enjoying it.
Post a Comment
<< Home