Please don't step on my priorities

Last night I went to a PTA meeting. I'm here to tell you after 4 states and a another country--they're all the same; change the accent and the language and one PTA meeting can be moved anywhere. I found myself getting quite annoyed during the meeting and then very irritated after I left. PTA meetings are famous for criticizing anyone who doesn't choose to subject themselves to the PTA by being on the board, chairing a committee or participating 110%. Then there are the complaints about the teachers who don't come to enough "extra" activities. I will publicly admit that I have been one of those who complain, but I also am ready to say enough is enough. Let's start with the teachers-- this is their job and not an organization they are choosing to volunteer for. I agree teachers need to participate, but who are we to decide how much extra time they need to put in? How do we know whether they are actually volunteering at a PTA for another school where their children actually attend? Then there are the comments about how they only work until 4, so what else are they doing? First of all, anyone who is close to a teacher knows that in actuality their minds are never far from their profession. I cannot tell you the number of battlefields and historic sites Chris and I use to stop at to pick up something that might help his class (he used to teach history). These stops were on our personal vacations. I know many teachers that spend Saturday mornings rummaging through yard sales looking for items to improve their classroom--items they pay for themselves. So yes, the children are gone at 4, but the paperwork and the brain power continues and continues. The truth is there are many people who choose teaching because it's a passion and because it fits in with their children's school hours. What's wrong with that? If I were a teacher, there is no way that I would be able to stay after every day for hours to volunteer and I can assure you that I wouldn't be able to run a booth all day at a carnival. I have four children who I am running around every afternoon and all day Saturday. Who should be my priority--volunteering or my children?

Now as for the "others" who don't participate in leadership roles on the PTA. Not everyone wants to be in a leadership position but they are quite happy to be called on to chaperone a field trip, send in supplies or many other things. They choose not to spend an evening a month meeting about the plans. Or maybe they are involved in other activities-- There are some people who have to be in everything, PTA, church leadership, neighborhood council, etc. But there are others who choose one thing to totally devote themselves to, and guess what? Maybe that one thing is "just" their family. That's a great priority and maybe the rest of us should "just" remember that.