Tips: How to Survive the PTA

With my kids in school, I took the opportunity to get earnestly involved with the PTA. When my son started elementary school I took that place by storm. I was the best pre-k class parent anybody had ever seen. I was at the school so much that many of the kids thought I worked there.

The next year I volunteered to head up the (almost non-existent at the time) fundraising committee. I really threw myself into it. With both of my kids in school I had a lot of time to give, and I gave it.

In retrospect, heading up a committee (like the PTA) was the absolute worst role I could’ve played at the school. I’m a control freak who can’t delegate. I would rather stay up all night and ultimately have an event crash and burn than organize a bunch of volunteers to help me.  A friend warned me more than once that I was going to burn out, but I didn’t believe her. Ultimately though, she was right. I did burn out, bad, and stepped away for a while.

Since then I’ve managed to maintain a bit of a distance from the PTA, while still contributing. If I could do it all over again there are some guidelines I would try to follow.

Tips for Surviving the PTA

1. Find your “thing.” 

Everybody has that one special thing they like to do, whether it’s baking, face painting, making signs, book-keeping, organizing volunteers, or even just cleaning up. Seriously, I know people who don’t want to deal with the actual event or have any responsibility, so they sign up for the clean-up slots for everything. Find the thing that you can do that won't drive you crazy. My thing is sitting on my a** selling tickets. I have a laptop, a hot spot, and even my own credit card swiper (seriously). I’m the go-to person for sitting at a table near the door, away from the music and the chaos.

2. Learn to say “Yes, but…”

Set your terms from the beginning. Yes, I’ll work the ticket table for three hours, but I’m leaving before clean-up. Yes, I’ll lend my table and chairs, but someone with a truck will have to come pick them up. Yes, I’ll come to meetings, but only one per month. You get the idea.

3. Learn how to say no and walk away quickly. 

I’m not saying this to make the PTA’s job harder, I want to make its job easier. If you go full steam ahead for a year and then burn out and hide from them for the next six, you’re not doing anyone any good. Learn to say no sometimes so that you’ll be available at other times.

4. Know your limits. 

One of the first things I was asked to do at the school was head up a literary festival. It was going to be happening right at a critical time in our house renovation. It would’ve been disastrous if I’d said yes. This was back when I wasn’t good at saying no, but I knew I had to take a pass on this one, and I was right. Trust your gut when it comes to PTA involvement!

5. Appreciate the PTA officers. 

While I was never on the PTA board, I was involved enough for several years that I know how much time and energy it takes the PTA officers to do what they do. I couldn’t do it. But no matter what’s going on, I try to keep in mind that while I can drop in for an event and then drop out of sight again, they’re in there week after week, month after month.

There you have it. 

Volunteer when you can, but don’t over-commit. When the same people step up over and over, it becomes very easy to take advantage of them. But if everyone pitched in a little nobody would burn out.