Why do PTA parents get to reserve the best friffing seats at the school plays HMMMM?

[BaublesAndCuntingCarolSingers]

Seriously, pack it in.

I know you do good for the school yadda yadda but it DOES rather cheese one orf when one has being waiting for 30 minutes outside school to get a decent seat and then one finds that PTA wimmin have reserved all the good seats for them and their DHs/children's siblings. Then said PTA wimmin waft in 2 minutes before the performance starts.

You want a good seat then put the work in, m'kay? Kfanx. xxx

Our Friends are mainly a bunch of delightful, sociable pissheads who put in a lot of effort and I love to distraction. (Especially when they persuaded the Most Goodlooking Dad In The World to be Father Christmas, thus nearly causing a logjam of hopeful parents wanting to sit on his knee and tell him how naughty they'd been.)

Agreed there are a certain amount of hair flickers/P-middy types but I am on it anyway as it does brilliant stuff for the school - thousand and thousands raised each year - and I want to help make the school a good place for my kids.

And yes, I did get a place at the Christmas play, and put my coat on a chair - only those actually helping with the coffees etc did though in our school - technically every parent is a member of our PTA, you don't have to ask to join - so reserved seats for all wouldn't work for us, but YABU to being ungrateful to begrudge your PTA their seats, after all they do.

Not a 'thankless' task after all then if front row seats are the 'thankyou'.

I would rather send a cheque each year and do away with all the ludicrously inefficient fund raising .
All the PTA who bang on and on about how marvellous they are- umm who pays for the stuff the PTA "fundraise" for - yep the parents.
I would rather send a cheque and avoid the norovirusmincepies

I always hated the cake sales. Go and buy/make cakes take them to school and then buy them back after school.

I would rather send a cheque too another.

I have never met a PTA person who thinks they are marvellous, just genuine people who put in lots of hours hard work to raise thousands of pounds every year. The generalising on here and sweeping statements are ridiculous! They are just volunteers like any other charity volunteers except other people that give up their time for charity don't get slated.

So do all you PTA haters object to your children using any school equipment funded by your PTA or refuse to let your children go on PTA subsidised school trips?

We'd give our eye teeth for people to help us on our Friends committee and I'd LOVE your cheque sparkling as the I could ask if you'd gift aid it as well.
I am no way an alpha mummy type, and we fund raise for equipment like the school football strip, eight laptops, and some essential plastering work that can't be funded elsewhere. although I don't get a front row seat at the nativity, think I should talk to my agent about that.

Umm am not a PTA hater - I just find them very inefficient .
Rather than attend boring,badly organised events that "fundraise" I would rather send a cheque to pay for school equipment and schooltrips - the parents pay for them .
This is my major gripe - the PTA think they "raise" the money. The money comes from the parents- so I dont object to my children using equipment or going on schooltrips that I have contributed to.

I don't think we ever got told what the money was spent on. Certainly not laptops. But there were only 55 children in the whole school at the time.

Sponsor forms used to have me running away screaming. Hate asking for sponsors so used to make them up and send the money in myself. Horrible. Especially having 2 DC at the school so every donation was doubled.

I'm on the PTA and I bloody love my front row seats, thank you very much. And I get first dibs on the bric-a-brac stalls, which I then flog on ebay at a huge profit. And I lick all the cakes.

snort lovelyladuree think you are on our PTA

You lick the noroviruscakes lovelyladuree?

Ewww at the bric a brac that used to appear at the jumble sales. Opened and used perfume anyone?

Does your DC get the best parts in school play lovelyladuree?

I do hope so

I have been a school governor for over 20 years and when people asked me why, I used to tell them it was to get a front row seat at the Nativity play... bear in mind most schools that I have been involved with over the years are usually 80%+ Moslem so I didn't get the pole position. Then about 12 years ago I was sent into a catholic school as an additional governor... and I got the front seat, however that was also the year that the recorder group was formed... three verses of Good King Wencelaus later and the dreaded words, "Our new Chair will now say a few words..."

So you see, your PTA and governors will get their comeuppance!

By the way OP forgot to say YANBU although I like that rule and may bring it in it would really help us get some other parents to help face with a Santa hat
Re other poster's comments on badly organized, funds only come from us not "raised" etc. um, well step up and do it yourself or write the cheque! The point is that if parents wrote the cheques (or, heaven forfend, the government actually gave enough flipping money to state schools) then you wouldn't all be subjected to endless tombolas, cake sales and sponsorship forms.
And we have dads on on our PTA not Flicky haired mums.
So ner.

Oo put strange linky thing in that goes nowhere. Sorry!

But I felt I was doing my bit by buying the cakes and buying them back, and sending in sponsor money. Then donating bottles for the bottle tombola, chocolates for the chocolate tombola, making little jars for the Christmas Fayre, buying a brick for the school extension etc I spent an absolute fortune over the years. A cheque would probably have been cheaper TBH.

Sigh would gladly write a cheque 25catsname but the PTA wouldnt have it.

Frumpy women in old cords and bootcut jeans need something to do after all

sparkling Yes, yes you are helping loads and sorry to sound grumpy, and now I feel bad as without all the parents like you donating everything and emptying their pockets at our school fairs we'd have nothing. FWIW I'd take your cheque! And you seem to do LOTS for your PTA.

I DO NOT WEAR CORDS

I know 25, and I do appreciate what the Friends do but don't want to feel guilty for not joining that's all. Not everyone does do they?

But now DS2 is at Middle School we aren't asked for nearly as much, and DS1 is at High School so not much at all.

Our nativities are free. The costumes are provided by the school. The PTA serve tea and coffee to the parents before and after each nativity, of which there are four performances. Would you like it if I stood at the back after giving up two hours of my own time (for each performance) so that you can have a cup of tea?

I do understand the comments about inefficient fundraising - cake day at our school involves the children bringing cakes to school and selling them at a loss, but then the school council insist on it every year because they enjoy it.

I don't understand the point about preferring to pay money directly to the school and avoid all the PTA fundraising events. Their events aren't compulsory so you can easily avoid them. And no-one's stopping you sending a cheque to the school are they? If you think the whole thing could be handled better, you should join and change things from the inside.

But I do think that there must be things that the PTA does in your school that you appreciate, even if its only being able to grab a coffee at sports day.