Classroom parent $$

[momxx5]

Addressing a few things here.....

Hipchickie & Taximom4:
I am in the exact same situation that y'all are in. I have been selling off anything I can find. Gold earrings, my Grandmas china, my son's bell kit(drums) in order to buy Thanksgiving dinner, let alone planning Christmas.

The kids (all 5 of them) were having classroom competetions to see who could get the most items collected for the Food Pantry. The younger kids took a can or two because I just didn't have the heart to tell them diffferently. The older kids understand.

Things do have a light at the end of the tunnel, as DH will start a temp job in January and I just got a tranfer (with some prayers it will turn full time with benefits)

On a different note, I posted before that our school board has passed similar rules as Aprilgail. Everything must be prepackaged. AND cannot be consumed before 12:40........after all lunches have been completed in cafeteria. So I just got a call from 2nd grade class mom for something sweet....maybe chocolatey.....I make mini brownies in mini muffin pans for easy eating. She said "perfect" ! Only hours later did I remember that I can't make them & send them in, I'll have to call and remind her. Now what will I send in?

In the past I've been class room mom many, many times. I let the other moms do it now. When my kids were younger I was there, now with most of my kids in middle & high school I let other excited moms do it(always offering to help or advice if needed).

Last yr my DD's first gr class was not going to be making anything to take home for the tree. You know when you are decorating your tree & getting things out they all have made over the yrs. It dawned on me that DD's teacher(a first yr one) wasn't so crafty. I can tell you it me a bit buying crafty stuff for the class to make a few projects. It was worth every penny to see the kids so happy.
Time change, DH loses his job early last year, kids need dental work, I can't find a job, etc.

I just wanted to let OP know that I have been where she is and now I'm with others. Stay strong.....remember its for the kids and come vent here anytime.

 

[taximomfor4]

momxx5, your post just made me smile. As pathetic and frustrated as I feel right now (ds9's class is now asking for another $3 for a student teacher's gift, and dd7's class now needs another $2.50/kid since they didn't collect enough for their party yet), you eloquently showed understanding for both positions. Usually, I have been able to send in extras. Usually, I have sent treats on my kids birthdays, though, too. This year, nope. My kids are even carefully choosing which friends' birthday invitations to accept. We just can't keep buying gifts, so can't attend them ALL.

Anyway, I appreciate the understanding!

 

[MrsMork]

Here in Montana the kids are having hot chocolate and a movie Friday for their party. They are going to wear their PJs. This is third grade. DGS is looking forward to it alot. I'm sending a bag of small marshmallows. Some to these party plans sound absurd to me and I've been around school quite a bit - oldest DD is 41 and youngest grandchild is in third grade. I help with grandkids since so many parents have to work.

Oh, and for a teacher gift, we will get his amazing teacher something individually. No one asks us for $$ to buy a group gift. But then our school board did not ask for more money this past year either, they figured out some ways to save.

 

[mum4jenn]

"we MUST provide 2 fruit platters at each party (22 kids per class) according to Board of Ed rules....19.99 each- we can NOT buy the fruit at home to slice it up--has to be prepackaged in a platter...AND---we have to bring it to school early and have the cafeteria ladys divide it up into individual cups for each child. So just the frui alone is 40.00!! "

I would be SOOO P O'd if someone brought me fruit trays to divide up into cups for a class. I am a lunchroom manager and we have much more important things to do than to divide up fruit!!!!! We are paid to cook meals for the children..NOT to do fruit cups that are not a part of the food service program. NO WAY would we do this. I would give those parents some gloves and tell them it is not our job.

 

[aprilgail2]

Here in Montana the kids are having hot chocolate and a movie Friday for their party. They are going to wear their PJs. This is third grade. DGS is looking forward to it alot. I'm sending a bag of small marshmallows. .

We are not allowed to have hot chocolate parties anymore- doesn't met the nutritional guidelines--- it is all such a load of crap I am glad my daughter is in 5th grade and we won't have to bother with class parties etc anymore after this year, the school has taken all the fun out of it!!

"
I would be SOOO P O'd if someone brought me fruit trays to divide up into cups for a class. I am a lunchroom manager and we have much more important things to do than to divide up fruit!!!!! We are paid to cook meals for the children..NOT to do fruit cups that are not a part of the food service program. NO WAY would we do this. I would give those parents some gloves and tell them it is not our job.

We would LOVE to be able to do it ourself!! Against the board of health rules they tell us!! We also have to supply oranges and watermelon for field day-EVERY class- and the cafeteria ladies have to cut up the oranges into sections and cut up the watermelon.

 

[mum4jenn]

We are not allowed to have hot chocolate parties anymore- doesn't met the nutritional guidelines--- it is all such a load of crap I am glad my daughter is in 5th grade and we won't have to bother with class parties etc anymore after this year, the school has taken all the fun out of it!!



We would LOVE to be able to do it ourself!! Against the board of health rules they tell us!! We also have to supply oranges and watermelon for field day-EVERY class- and the cafeteria ladies have to cut up the oranges into sections and cut up the watermelon.

They are lying to you about that. As long as a hair covering was used, hands washed, gloves on hands, and it was done in the clean environment of the kitchen the volunteers could do it.

 

[aprilgail2]

They are lying to you about that. As long as a hair covering was used, hands washed, gloves on hands, and it was done in the clean environment of the kitchen[/B] the volunteers could do it.

LOL---I have to laugh at the "clean environment" of the school kitchen....all I know is that at MY house I don't have to have roach traps, sticky fly paper or glue boards on my floor, unlike what I see in our school kitchen. They also don't let us use anything in the kitchen or do anything in there do to insurance regulations..the whole thing is just a major pain in the butt to us all- parents AND school employees.

 

[cnlmom]

Wow, what a lot of restrictions your school board has.
Count me as one of the parents who think things have got out of control. Although I am not in quite the financial crunch as some others are, I do get a bit weary every time I open a book bag or an email about yet another cost. I added it up and so far this year it has been well over 200.00. 10 bucks for ice cream cards for each kid (yes, that is optional, but when everyone else is eating icecream....), smelly fruity pencils 1 buck each, donations for crafts so they can sell them and give the money to a non-school related charity, class parties money/food donations, donations of items for science projects, baked items for fair day (kids entered a contest to see who made the best apple/pumpkin baked good.... at the end of the day I saw all the half eaten pies, cakes and such in the trash, made me sick to see the waste), now they want us to send in cash for teacher gifts.....PTA wants to pool it all together, divy it up between all the teachers and put each donating kids name on the card....we drew the line at that one, we will just give a small gift like we always do.
I think things have got out of control.
Although I am not a "class Mom" as I also work full time and have a very demanding job, I do volunteer several times a year, using vacation and sick days to help out....one thing that bothers me, is when I do take a vacation day, come to school, just to find out there are 6 other moms there and noone really needed my help. I am all for being active at school and am more than willing to do anything, but for me to take a day off, just to stand around when I expected to be useful is frustrating.

 

[momxx5]

I am currently working in a school cafeteria........in no way, shape or form would anyone....parent, grandparent, child or teacher be allowed in our kitchen to do anything with food. Also, no outside food would be allowed in our kitchen. No way.

All that said, the cafeteria ladies would be happy to help out the kids with the parties and if allowed we would cut, divide, etc.

One year the PTO sponsored a Christmas concert with milk & cookies. We "purchased" the cookies & milk from the cafeteria and the ladies cooked all the cookies for us that day. We were very thankful. That was 5+yrs ago and prob not allowed anymore.

 

[momxx5]

Oh, and along the food lines.......last yr DD had a project about traditions including making a family recipe. Well the Accelerated Teacher had no clue of the school rules, so all the kids brought the food in and then when she found out they could not eat it she sent it all back home. By the time it came home it was in no shape to eat. She then collected the recipes and made a cookbook but by then the fun was lost.


All the food restrictions are also for classroom baby showers for teachers, etc.

However.......the PTO can have a luncheon for the teachers and have food made/donated. Somehow everyone is hush-hush when that comes up.

 

[BuzzPrincessMom]

I am thankful we do not have the rules that I have just read about. It makes the parties a hassle, and if they are a hassle what fun are they.

I have been a room mom. I sent home a sheet stating the parties (3) and check boxes on what party and what you would be interested in bringing. With 18 in the class each child brought in something for one party.

I then "reminded" people a week before the party. We worked with what came in.

When it came time for Christmas, I didn't ask for anything for a gift, each family did what was best for them. At the end of the year, I got a frame and large mat from the Christmas Tree shop ($4) and 5X7 photo ($1) I took of the class at a favorite event - I then went into the school during their library time and had each child sign the mat. That was the classes teacher's gift.

 

[MrsMork]

Oh, and along the food lines.......last yr DD had a project about traditions including making a family recipe. Well the Accelerated Teacher had no clue of the school rules, so all the kids brought the food in and then when she found out they could not eat it she sent it all back home. By the time it came home it was in no shape to eat. She then collected the recipes and made a cookbook but by then the fun was lost.


All the food restrictions are also for classroom baby showers for teachers, etc.

However.......the PTO can have a luncheon for the teachers and have food made/donated. Somehow everyone is hush-hush when that comes up.

They have classroom baby showers for teachers????? Am I reading this correctly? The children have a baby shower, with gifts, for the teacher???

 

[aprilgail2]

They have classroom baby showers for teachers????? Am I reading this correctly? The children have a baby shower, with gifts, for the teacher???

We typically have classroom showers for the teachers- doesn't include food but they do bring in presents!

 

[skw444]

Oh, and I can't be a "class parent" since I work full time.

I work full time too and I'm class mom plus find time to volunteer in the media center 3 times a month. It can be done if you want to.

 

[ceecee]

We had a baby shower for my DD's 5th grade teacher, the kids loved it. I was a room mom and we didn't ask them to bring in gifts but many of them wanted to. They all signed a huge card, decorated the room and had cookies and punch.
As the mom of a middle schooler, who no longer has class parties...I miss them. Enjoy them now because they will be over before you know it.

 

[penn19]

We used to be asked by the room moms for $20 per child to cover Christmas gift, birthday gift and end of year gift for the teacher. As a room mom I HATED asking for that amount. Any amount really. I didn't feel comfortable giving that amount, whether I could afford it or not. The last year they did it, parents were asked to send in money as usual, well the one teacher none of the parents liked (this was not my childs teacher) so the room mom collected $30 or so, but the other teachers all got closer to $300. It was such a huge deal that the room moms came up with the bright idea to pool ALL the money collected and divvy it up so each teacher got the same amount. That did not go over real well with the parents who had donated the money for their teacher that they did like. So that was the last year parents were asked to contribute money.

 

[taximomfor4]

I work full time too and I'm class mom plus find time to volunteer in the media center 3 times a month. It can be done if you want to.

I would not assume that someone can do it if they want to. It depends what else is going on in their lives. Perhaps they have babies at home (our school forbids younger siblings of coming), help care for a sick/elderly parent or grandparent,etc. It's great that some who work full time can fit being class mom, but it certainly isn't a reasonable conclusion that it means EVERY mom who works full time could be class mom if they wanted to.

 

[skw444]

I would not assume that someone can do it if they want to. It depends what else is going on in their lives. Perhaps they have babies at home (our school forbids younger siblings of coming), help care for a sick/elderly parent or grandparent,etc. It's great that some who work full time can fit being class mom, but it certainly isn't a reasonable conclusion that it means EVERY mom who works full time could be class mom if they wanted to.

Well, I was specifically referring to her post that she couldn't be class parent because she worked full time. She didn't state that she had any other responsiblities keeping her from being a class parent except working full time.

 

[Goofy'slady]

I'm so grateful that we don't have all these kinds of rules and restrictions I've read so far. I have 2 girls ages 11 and in 6th grd and 4 and in Pre-K. My middle schooler has parties but the school pays for all of them and since they know what they will and will not allow in the schools I think it's best if they handle all of the school parties in the first place. So far the only thing we've had to come out of our pockets to pay for has been 10 bucks for a trip to an organic farm in PA and that paid for the bus ride from Baltimore, the film they saw once they got there and the farm in which they visited. Pretty good in my eyes.

Now, on to my Pre-K'er, it seems that every other week they are having some kind of party. The book club dress up party, the Harvest time party and they've had two fuzzy ball parties(a reward party for being well behaved over a period of time). The only party where we were actually asked to donate anything was Harvest party, where I was allowed to make and bring in mac 'n cheese. Everything else the teacher pays for out of her pocket, but since I volunteer twice a week I know about each party a head of time and always ask if there's anything I can do to help ease the money burden for her; especially since she's so young (23). This is also her first year teaching and I think she's all excited and giddy so she doesn't mind making up for the lack of parent involvement in the class.

We don't really have room moms in our school so when I see that the teachers supplies are running low, or she sends home a note to say that they're in need of something I make sure to add those items on our next Walmart run and bring them in to class. For her end of the year gift (as well as the class Para) I've gotten them each a gift set from B&BW's, a gift card to places I've personally heard them say they enjoy grabbing a quick lunch from and a gift bag full of things they're ALWAYS in need of like tissues, paper towels, glue sticks, hand sanitizer and a few books I found on the bargain table of Barnes & Noble. Are we a wealthy lot here at our house? no, but I plan well in advance and try my best to help out; so that means I've been buying a few things at a time so that I can reach my goal so that it won't hit me all at once - heck my husband has even brought one or two items himself all in an effort to show that we appreciate all they do.

These times we live in today are harder for some than others so if you find yourselves not being able to do what you once were please make sure to pick up in other ways such as volunteering in your schools. Help out in the lunch room, the school store, the library, the front office anywhere where your talents and services are needed. Not only does that help the teachers out but it helps the whole school know that you're here to lend a hand. Not to mention it shows your kids that you're really care about them and their education that you would take time out of your own already busy schedule to help others. Which I find exceedingly more important than any party.

T.

 

[taximomfor4]

Well, I was specifically referring to her post that she couldn't be class parent because she worked full time. She didn't state that she had any other responsiblities keeping her from being a class parent except working full time.

I just meant that everyone's situation is different. What one person can fit into their lives isn't always something another person can also fit. Her FT schedule may be 8-5 M-F, with no paid leave around holidays at all (retail perhaps). That would make it impossible to be a room parent, since all the holiday parties fall around the holidays.