Commitment

[kuh-mit-muhnt]

1.

the act of committing.

2.

the state of being committed.

3.

the act of committing, pledging, or engaging oneself.

4.

a pledge or promise; obligation: We have made a commitmentto pay our bills on time.

 Last year I was approached by our PTA President about taking on the Treasurer position for PTA.  I knew it was going to be a huge time suck.  I knew there would be a great deal of responsibility.  I knew what the commitment was.

There's that word.   Commitment.

Some people take it very seriously & some don't.    For those of us who do, those who don't are major pains.

Last year I was also approached by the outgoing Book Fair Chair/Media Center Liason Chair & asked if I'd like to join her as Co-Chair.  Which I did.  I knew the possibility existed that she would be moving at the end of the school year but didn't let that bother me.  I'd be working with our Super Bookatarian & that alone made the job worth it.  

So now we're looking at Book Fair #3 for the year.  My flyers went home last week.  My posters went up today, as did the sign up sheets for the teachers.  The website link goes up today on FB and I've been promoting BF on our FB group as well.  I've been getting my volunteers lined up for set up, the fair itself & the break down.  If I find I don't have enough, I'll hit up the rest of the Executive Board for coverage where I think I'm sparse.   A day or two after the breakdown I'll get my financials done & call it good.

Notice I've done my work.  My responsibility.  Fulfilled my commitment.

Again, some people don't do this.

We have an event next week at school that coincides with Book Fair.  It's one of those family evening events.  The chair person?  Whatever is all I can really say.  We're a week out from the event & the outside talent isn't confirmed.  Truth be told, I don't even know if they've been contacted.  The Room Mom Coordinator has contacted some food vendors about coming in but it's not her job.  She took it on herself.  Today I wrote up, copied & distributed the flyers (oh so very generic flyers because of the lack of info regarding the talent) for this event.  Why are the Room Mom Coordinator & I doing this person's job?  Did she ask us for help?

No, she never does.  She doesn't communicate with anyone unless they initiate contact.  Well, that's half true---sometimes she doesn't even reply.  The times I've emailed asking for lunch coverage at Book Fair, she never replies.  

So why did I spend a couple hours this morning helping her?  I'm still asking myself that question.  I won't feel guilty if the event tanks because it's not my event.  MY event will do well.  It always does.  Not to sound cocky but Book Fair creates such a frenzy at our school---it's awesome to see.  And refreshing to know that kids are excited by books.  

I spent time working on this woman's event because her lack of commitment angers me.  It makes me worry that people will think the PTA flaked on this.   And I don't want my name dragged through the mud because SHE can't handle anything.

The kicker is this woman had said early in the year that she wanted to be PTA president next year.   She can't run the two events she volunteered to chair much less run our PTA.  This Sunday we're having our Board meeting where we'll discuss next year's officer nominees.  She's not being nominated for anything on the Executive Board.  I can't help but wonder if she thinks she's getting a nod.  She's made mention that she knows she hasn't been around as much as the rest of us but just "call if you need help"  Funny thing is, when we call, she's never around.