From: CREECH@LSTC2VM.stortek.com (Teresa Creech)
Subject: Re: Common Sense and Participation
Organization: StorageTek SW Engineering
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 22:15:41 GMT

In article <1993Jan7.194816.21260@cbnewse.cb.att.com>
elonich@cbnewse.cb.att.com (diane.e.pedersen) writes:
 
>In article <16B4DBDA0.CREECH@LSTC2VM.stortek.com>, CREECH@LSTC2VM.stortek.com (Teresa Creech) writes:
>> In article <19930105101523SASTLS@mvs.sas.com>
>> Tamara Shaffer <SASTLS@mvs.sas.com> writes:
>>
>> >>in article <208@dpfe.UUCP> David R Huddleston Sr announces:
>> >>
>> >>I have been involved in EVERY activity each of my 3 children are in.  I
>> >>am a Scoutmaster, gymnastics judge, Band parent, School Parent, etc,
>> >>etc..  I have seen over the past 13 years, a major lack of concern by
>> >>the "professional" parents of today.  Send the kids to daycare,
>> >>latchkey, "let's go party - the kids will be fine", etc..  Then the
>> >>wonder why in the heck their kids get into trouble.
>> >>
>>
>>
>> I think that parents who have the dedication, temperment, etc to stay home
>> full time with children, be scoutmaters and school aids, and not have
>> outside activities are WONDERFUL.  They have a more stressful life than
>> I do, they work hard.  They have all my admiration. BUT - I couldn't do it.
>> Does this mean that I don't love or want my kids - NO!!!!!  It just means
>> that I am different.
>>
>> Also, nobody MAKES you be a scoutmaster, etc.  You chose to do this.
>> Don't give me grief because I choose to spend the time with my immediate
>> family instead of with everyone elses kids.
>>
>
>Contrary to popular belief, there is not a correlation between volunteering
>to help children's activities, and working outside of the home.  Most
>coaches, scoutmasters, etc. that I know are fathers with outside jobs.
>Of the 4 room mothers for my son's 2nd grade class, all 4 of us have
>outside jobs.  The den mother doesn't have paid employment, but she
>has almost a full-time job's worth of volunteer activities.
 
I didn't mean to imply that no working parents volunteered and that no
volunteer parents worked.  Sorry
 
>
>A lot of us have the philosophy that we should try to give our fair
>share of the volunteer efforts needed to keep kids going in school,
>scouts, church, and other outside activities.   So we help out where
>possible, be it accompanying a field trip, grading papers, organizing
>a craft project, making phone calls, staffing a booth, teaching s
>Sunday School class -- if every parent helped a little, we wouldn't
>have so many volunteers on the verge of burnout because they're
>trying to pick up the slack.
 
Some people are on the verge of burnout because they can't say no.  That
is their problem.
 
>
>I am grateful to the stay-at-home moms who have helped chauffer my
>kid around when I was at work.  I am especially grateful that
>flexible hours are a standard (albeit informal) practice in my
>workplace so that I can leave work some days to help with Scouts
 
You are very lucky.  A lot of us aren't so lucky.  Flex hours?  Officially
we have them, but...
 
>or my son's school, and not have to formally notify anyone of my
>comings-and-goings.  (Flexible hours also allow me the "privilege"
>to come into work at 10pm and stay all night to complete my work,
>if needed.)
>
>And we need to have a lot of sensitivity as to how other parents
>are dividing their volunteer time.   Someone might not volunteer
>to help with Scouts because they are busy ccordinating a school
>function, or doing their spouse's chores so that the spouse can
>coach soccer.  Or someone who is staying at home all the time
>might be making phone calls and babysitting other people's kids
>so that the other people can do some volunteer work.
>
>But I believe that everyone who has kids in volunteer-supported
>activities should try to do what they can to help out.   And with
>more and more parents employed outside the home, we also need to
>pool our creativity (and change society so that flextime becomes
>the norm) if we want to keep these opportunities alive for our kids.
 
amen.  Add telecommuting, part time, and job sharing to that sentence:
       "...and change society so that flextime, telecommuting, parttime,
       and jobsharing becomes the norm...
 
>
>
>helping with scouts deosn't meean they
>--
>Diane Pedersen
>AT&T Bell Laboratories
>Naperville, Illinois
>att!ihlpe!elonich
Newsgroups: misc.kids