To NOT volunteer to help at the school fete?

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

got asked this morning - said i'd see if i was working and think about it.
Just realised I have never been to a school fete. I've always been there manning a stall or painting faces and have never just gone as a punter.
problem is, I know they won't have enough helpers and i'll feel all guilty if i do just go.

YANBU if you've always helped before. I've helped at every summer and Christmas fete for many years, but am holding back a bit now for same reason - I never got to go as a punter!!! But now my dc's are old enough to ONLY want to be with their friends, and not led by the hand into Santa's grotto or helped to splat the rat ... (sniff)

Maybe be honest and say you'd like a fair off, but say you will help for an hour if they are really really stuck ...?

that is a good compromise, I think.

Tell them that you want to be a punter, but obviously you won't see them stuck. They will probably understand perfectly. You may find that after half an hour of being a customer you are fed up and actually want to sell some cakes or paint some faces

If you've helped before, you're probably entitled to some time off. Having said that, if the majority of parents all helped for just half an hour, there would be plenty of volunteers and enough time for everyone to enjoy the fete (says someone who's just done their school fete and managed 15 minutes looking round and the rest manning a stall!).

As a former chair of our school P.T.A. (until 2 years ago) I know how hard it is to get volunteers. The same people always end up doing everything while others do nothing. I am no longer in the P.T.A. but will offer to help for half an hour only!!! I will say I have to leave after that time and will check someone is coming to relieve me when I start. I will go around the fair first with the DCs and then leave after my time is done!! I have spent all of my DD1's fairs tied to a stall for the duration while other parents in her class spend several hours there chatting and drinking tea. If everyone spent half an hour helping we could all look round with our DCs but we all know that never happens. I always laughed at the number of parents who could not say if they were free or not but turned up on the day or popped in on their way to a family wedding!!!!

o.k compromise. i will help but only if i can be relieved for half an hour. i will be firm. but will probably end up mooching around on my own as the DDs are far too old and cool to be seen with me.

At our fair we organise it so that you only run a stall for an hour, then have the second hour to wander around. That way we get loads more volunteers if everyone knows they are only doing an hour. We also allocate stalls to individual classes to man, thus effectively guilting people into helping as it shows which classes are lacking in volunteers! Otherwise as you say it end up being just the faithful few doing all the hard work time after time.

Our school does similar to COV's, that is people are only asked to volunteer for set times, for example, to help set up in hte morning, to be on a stall for an hour or to help clean up afterwards.

In reality it's still pretty much the same group who do everything all day long! But it has improved since the PTA asked for volunteers in this way.