Riding the Waves of Parenting and Committee Life

As the sun begins to dip toward the horizon on my two-year journey with the School Parents and Guardians Committee, I find myself navigating a sea of nostalgia and frustration. It's been quite the adventure, filled with highs and lows that have left their mark on my heart.

I stepped into the role of secretary (despite my lack of Greek) with lofty ambitions of revolutionizing our local school community with global best practices. Little did I know the whirlwind of emotions and experiences that awaited me. Perhaps it’s the exhaustion, the perimenopausal rollercoaster, or the stress from work, but this school, nestled in the sunny coastal suburbs of Athens with just 200 students, has become more than just a place of education for my kids—it’s my second home - a place to rest.

Balancing the desires of my children has been like walking a tightrope with fire underneath. One demands my participation at every turn, while the other wishes for invisibility at the school gates. It's a delicate dance that often leaves me feeling stretched in all directions.

And then there are the endless hours lost at Committee meetings and messages filled with debates, arguments, votes, opinions and parental level politics —whether an email should be sent today or tomorrow, the constant begging from local shops for sponsorship, the arguments over who said what among teachers and parents. Not to mention the delicate negotiations with a parent who may have indulged a bit too much at one of our school events (yes, it’s happened!).

Amidst the chaos and occasional frustrations, there’s a deep sense of pride in what we’ve accomplished together. From successful clothes drives to extravagant carnivals, from setting up the school for a new academic year to navigating the intricacies of local governance, we’ve truly been a force to reckon with.  And my personal achievement - communicating with the growing multicultural community of the school - ensuring they are engaged, included and welcomed.

I am looking forward to the final bang - the vibrant summer party where we will dance late into the night under the stars on school grounds like giddy teenagers, surrounded by the sounds of Greek music and the aroma of souvlaki. It's these moments that make all the challenges and hard work worthwhile.

Here's to embracing the waves of parenting and committee life with courage and a dash of Greek flair!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holy Smoke

On Friday night, we decided to break routine and do as the Greek’s do, go out with our children after 7 pm. This town is the Greek version of Home and Away’s, Summer Bay – only it’s not that sleepy. Greece’s Summer Bay is really Mykonos with children. We walked to our local Paidotopo, a café that is also a children’s play centre. Its opening hours are 10 a.m to 2 p.m, then 5.30 p.m. to 12.00 a.m!  Our local Paidotopo is like walking onto set for an episode of Cheers for Children, where everybody knows your name. It’s warm, friendly and fun. Our local has a thousand activities, an indoor slippery dip, jumping castle, a dedicated supervisor who takes the children gently by the hand and plays with them for as long as you are there. She is not frightened to return naughty children to their parents, and will not tolerate bullying.  Best of all,  Paidotopo has a bar, (of course for the parents). The owner (his name is Archilea, not Sam), was pleased to see that I broke
Read more

Mummyfried. Really.

SO, I thought when I read Lisa’s call for a challenge, why not?  I can do it. I manically set about building a blog site, throwing up my stories and making room for more to come. Easy peasy. I can do it in one night I think. Reminiscent of my university days of pulling an ‘all-nighter’ – the difference, I refused to accept that the children and my insomnia (attention to detail) would cause delay. I have built websites before, I have consulted to Board Members and Partners regarding blogs and social media. I am a pro, I know what it takes.   The all-nighter turned into a four night all-nighter. I have spent the last few nights dealing with the baby’s attempts to turn night into day. She thinks I love it when she howls almost all night. Once she is awake, Little Miss wakes up. Little Miss (also known as Little Miss Relevance Deprivation) starts to howl also wanting cuddles and milk.  Somewhere between the two, I have worked on this blogsite. Sleep deprivation coupled
Read more

I love my stalker

Please don’t confuse me for somebody with a big ego. Ok, the truth is – I admit to having one, it’s like a trained monkey I try to keep it under control but we all know that training a monkey is not only cruel but unnatural. 'Leave the monkey alone' say my animal rights friends. While not healthy I admit I sort of have the same approach with my ego. I try to keep it under control, when it does go native I experience many cringe moments and often find myself apologising to people…a character fault I am not proud of…. Now, back to my stalker story.  I have more than one.  Stalker one: the one I don’t love. I worked for an organisation that was quick to shift responsibility and blame (but no authority) to those that were keen to move up the corporate ladder (also known as 'management training).  I was often tasked with moving people on when the organisation had drained them of their expertise, dedication and these people were screaming for recognition by way o
Read more