Bake Sales, School Carnivals, and School fundraisers

Oh my gosh. All at once. I'm baking cookies, I'm buying raffle tickets and carnival tickets and looking through a catalog of items that could be purchased to support the school system. I've joined the PTA, become a room mother, and am trying to juggle cheer/pom classes and my own community commitments. I've only been doing this for three days and I'm already in need of a vacation!

But, let's look at each of these things separately.

First, the bake sale. Will I feel bad if my cookies are not sold? I'll probably buy them myself to avoid that embarrassment. It's too bad that the education system has to hold bake sales and do other fundraisers in order to get money to hire a part-time art teacher. Of course, when I was in elementary, the music teacher doubled as the art teacher - but we still had the art class. I remember a bumper sticker I saw when I was in college (studying to be an elementary teacher). It said, "I'll be glad when the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a plane."

Second, school carnivals. Okay - I admit I really enjoy them. Or I used to when I was a kid. But now that I'm an adult I'm not supposed to get to play myself. That's just a bummer. Raffle tickets really aren't that bad, as long as the prizes are decent, but have you seen what they are raffling nowadays?

And Third, school fundraisers. I don't like going around to friends & families and asking them to buy things, especially given the items that are in the catalog. I'll buy some gift wrap, but I'm not pushing my coworkers to help fund the school (a school that is clear across town from where they live).