BLOODY CROSS WITH THE COLONEL'S WIFE

[MuchLessTiredNow]

Just need to rant. stuck out here in Germany and the nursery here is run as a charity as you will all know, but had no funds when I came here. The manager was 2 of my DCs' keyworker from a previous posting, so I said I would help her out with fundraising as there was only 90 euros in the fund, and over the last year of flipping hard graft, I have got this figure up to over 1000 euros. This money is supposed to be for everything that can't be got through the system, such as better furniture, potties, printer ink, nappies etc, a lot of which the manager had been paying for herself. New Colonel's wife tips up, organises one thing for the summer fete and now syays she wants to spend 300 euros on a piss up for the staff to thank them for all their hard work. As much as I like and respect all their hard work, I didn't give up all this time and ask people to donate and buy things over and over again so the staff can go out on a free piss up.

Sorry - finished now.

dont blame you. i would be pi**ed off too. could you suggest that instead of taking the money out of the funds that are meant to be for the children you could have a whip around the parents? we did this for my dd's nursery and it bought the staff a night out. even if it didn't quite do this you could buy them chocolates/put it behind the bar at a local or whatever depending on how much you got. think staff would also prefer this and would nt mind what it was. it is a TOKEN of parents appreciation

I'm not sure she can even do that can she? What are your charity regulations about what the funds can be spent on?

as a parent who'd donated i'd be pretty hacked off at the thought that dcs were going short because the staff were on a jolly with the funds... maybe she just got a bit caught up in the moment and wanted to express her gratitude (and be popular lol)...
perhaps if you discuss it with the manager then you could both approach her together and explain what your fundraising was actually for, and you feel that it would be inappropriate to divert the funds towards a social activity. fundraising under false pretences etc. as a parent i'd be furious, but i'd also tell her...

Thought the CO and his missus get an entertainment allowance anyway. Why can't she have a party or such like at her house??

LOL.What's her name?

oh don't. i feel a bit sorry for the poor cow. civvy my arse. the first flipping dinner i went to as the next mrs x i was lectured on my responsibilities as a sub-unit commander's wife. like, responsibilities ?!

that was a good while back, and i'm now officially avoiding germany.

def tell her to have her own party though. not happy about the swindling . she's just trying to make sure the staff don't all leave and she's left with two hundred squawking children, 100 irate wives, and no-one to look after any of them.

i once made a joke about flower arranging.
it did not go down well.

Yes, and different from the RAF as well.
Lucky for us that then that the Army run evrything, then we'll all be the same

ll - watch out for Terry at shriv - you'll pay double there...

my puppy has eaten the kichen cupboard. most of it.

they can't fail to bill me for that.

You must have bribed them. Bet you did. I'm still smarting over the alleged damage to my old quarter.

and the moral of that story is...

Romy - what do you HAVE to do as a sub-unit commanders wife in Germany (gulp}? I'm afraid, I'm very afraid.

And Tiredgirl - why not suggest ever so sweetly to the boss's wife that she hosts a party at her house for the staff - down here there's a big garden party every year for all the voluntary workers and so on, at the General's house. Consider yourselves thanked!

let's just say, everything you've had nightmares dreams about and more...

please don't tell me the OH's will be away at any point (ha!) and you'll be fine...

maybe.

I've heard horror stories about gnomes and coffee mornings and (deep breath) Scottish dancing and flower arranging. Please tell me it's not true.

And of course, DH will be going away somewhere sunny, although not til next year. Yay.....

I hope it's not the Gurkha officer I know. He's a right eejit!

thanks guys - woke up at flipping 5 am this morning worrying about it, and I went to see the manager this morning and had a quiet word that the blunderbuss was wanting to do it and it was against regs, and she was very grateful for the heads up and said she would deal with it as it would be her ass on the line if she accepted. I LOVE the idea about using the ents allowance though - wish I'd logged on again before I went in today - it woudl have made her stop in her tracks! Talking of crap ideas - we just refused to go to the summer ball as it was decided (by some complete eeejit) that the only danncing would be ballroom and it was the gentlemen's responsibility to fill their dance card - mmmmm, realy wanted to spend 200 euros to watch dh behave like a frightended rabbit all night.... scoots - have you got a date for moving yet?

Tell her to raise her own 300 Euros

scoots, when dh was in command, i did exactly what I wanted to do, and the unit you are going to, the woman you are replacing made it a point of honour never to get involved, so either way you win!!!!