why do we volunteer?

I was helping with one of my kids organizations and can't believe how I was treated. I gave an evening to be with the kids and do whatever was asked by the leader of the group. I have been going to these meetings for years and am just shocked by the behavior.

First of all the women who are there are there of their own free will. As far as I know, no one is being paid except with smiles, hugs and thank yous from the kids. I guess that I want my kid to still be in this group but I'm not sure what to do about the leader's behavior toward the volunteers.

At the end of every year I say to my husband, "don't let me do that again". I literally couldn't sleep last night because of what was said and how she made me feel. How do I justify letting my daughter remain in this group. I know she loves being with her friends and I have not seen the leader mistreat the children but it just grinds me how she behaved. How should I handle this? Do I say something at the risk of her taking it out on me or my daughter? Do I switch my daughter to a different group and avoid the mom? Why do I volunteer with this group? Sometimes I hate confrontation!

I guess I can type it out here and hope it is now off my chest and I can move on.

I just want to say THANK YOU to all of the volunteers in my life. It could be at my kids school, after school activities (Girl Scout Leaders, soccer coach, bb coach, softball coach and Vball coach) and to all the people at my church who give of their time and talents. I know some people look for the big thank yous but this is for all of the people who give freely. I appreciate everything that you have done to make my family's life better!

Speaking of volunteering, S had her first day as a library volunteer. She had a great time. The library had an outdoor carnival and S helped run one of the craft booths. She was so excited I had to pull her off the ceiling! I love to see her excitement. I couldn't believe all of the kids that were there the weather was 90 degrees and so humid I thought I was going to pass out! Thank GOD for the breeze and water!

Doctor Doctor give me the news

I couldn't resist the title. I had the annual (so what it's been 2 years) visit to the doctor's office w/ K and C. It was the first appointment of the day, I highly suggest this for everyone. I had to wake the girls up at 8 am to make it to the office by 8:40. I told them if they skip breakfast we could go out together after the appointment. We arrived by 8:30 but the Dr. didn't arrive until about 9:30. This if so frustrating. I wish I could charge the Dr. for an hour of my time. If I didn't like her so much and the kids have been going their since they were born and it is close to my house....I guess it is something that I just have to put up with. The good news is we haven't been to the doctors for 2 years!

My dilemma today was whether to or not to give C her 2nd vaccination for chicken pox. I keep thinking that it didn't kill me. I don't know anyone who has died from chicken pox, so what is the big deal. Yes, I am a nurse but I just think sometimes we as a society blow everything out of proportion. You know what I mean, have you checked out the news lately. It is never just raining out it is a "severe thunderstorm" or it is never just snowing it is a "winter weather warning". Seriously I don't have problems with prevention and safety but did I really need to vaccinate my kids from chicken pox? Now the doctor wants to talk to me about vaccinating my 11 year old for STD's. I KNOW she is not sexually active and won't be for many years because I can control that! Sure once she starts dating then I might not be able to control what she does but for the next few years she IS NOT going to be dating!

summer camp June of 2008

Well it has been a packed few weeks since school has been out. The girls currently are in Girl scout camp every evening from 5pm to 9pm. They are having a great time. We live about 5 blocks from the school and we have been riding our bikes over and back. The don't even know it is exercise. Tonight John picked them and rode back with them. K my 7 year old runs in the house yelling, "Mooooom, I did the greatest burn out". She is full of tye dye colors all over her new camp shirt! "We made tye dye bandannas" I think thank God they give you a shirt to wear at camp!

S is growing up so fast. She saw me reading the Carrot Cake Murder book and asked if she could read it, too. I guess she can.....I mean there is no swearing (She hears plenty of that from me.) and no sex so what the heck! She upstairs reading before bed and I can't get her nose out of the book. She tells me that they call this a murder mystery b/c the first murder didn't happen until well after 132 pages.

C asked me if she has any baby pictures because she will need one in 8th grade for the yearbook. C is currently is going into 4 grade so I think it is great she is already worrying about that! I would say she is organized but when I walked out of her bedroom I will put that rumor to rest.....what a messy child!!!

Michigan Adventure

Michigan Adventure here we come. I along with two other mom's took S's Girl Scout troop to Michigan Adventure for the day. We went to a hotel the day before and spent the night and then early in the morning headed to Michigan Adventure. The night before we went to the beach and had ice cream then back to the hotel to go swimming. I'm not sure how but we had the girls in bed by 12 am. The day was gorgeous as you can see from the roller coaster not a cloud in the sky. The girls road every roller coaster over and over. Then they spent the afternoon in the water park. I can't believe they stayed awake for the ride home but they were still bright eyed and bushy tailed.

What I found most interesting about the day is how the girls interacted. How one group of girls separated themselves from the other group and wanted to do their own thing. One of them didn't really care what anyone else said or wanted to do she wanted everyone to do what she wanted. The one group of girls did not follow her logic and went their way and then the other group went their way. I went with the group who had the girl "leader", just to try and understand the dynamics. The "leader" would dictate where they would go and even if one of the others in the group wanted to ride a ride or do something different if she didn't want to then they didn't, they followed her around like puppy dogs. I was proud to see my daughter was not in that group of girls, that she had enough sense to figure out that to do everything one girls says doesn't make sense. That that girl never compromises and if you don't do what she wants she finds something to say to you that hurts you feelings. I see that this is the beginning of clicks, yes it is starting in the 5th grade.

I know S has her days when she fights with her sisters and parents, yells and doesn't want to do what is expected of her but she really shined that day. On the way home we stopped at Taco Bell. The girls all sat together and the mom's sat a different tables. Samantha said, to me in front of everyone, thanks for dinner. I know it seems like a small thing but I didn't hear anyone else saying Thank you for anything!

Happy June. S and I had our birthdays. She spent the day with daddy in Joliet at the NHRA races. Here is a picture of my girls with a couple of the Force girls. Daddy has made them drag racing fans and they love to watch the Forces. Last year we even gave S an Ashley Force barbie doll. She comes with a drag racing outfit. S loved it! She took her bday money and bought the pick Ashleigh hat she is wearing. S hates pink but because it has Ashley's name on it she was all in. I spent the day in the chair watching Army wives reruns. The family was in Chicago for the weekend and I had the TV to myself.