Resign as chair..

[flashbunny73]

I just need to let off steam...
i have been on our nursery committee for 4 years and have been chair for the last 2 years. In the last 2 years i have had to deal with staff maternity leave, both members of staff resigning - both for good reasons nothing bad, recruiting new staff and OFSTED. This is on top of all the usual cr@p like parents not paying their fees, advertising, writing newsletters, dealing with complaints etc. I feel i have done 99% of the work with very little support from other parents and now we have new inexperienced staff so i am suppporting them. When we ask other parentx to join the committee they say they are 'too busy'. 3 years ago we ran at a loss and lost half our savings account. Through budgeting and increasing fundraising from £200 to £2000 per year we have just managed to earn the money we lost. The staff are nice but one is quite lazy and i am fed up of the backchat.
My child has 1 year left to go but i want to bail out at the next AGM. I feel its time for someone else to do some of the work. My husband has been nagging me to quit for ages.
has anyone else been through the committee hell??

I think that when you take on Voluntary work , you have to think that it is your choice, and not to expect any thanks.
After all you have volunteered.
If you feel so aggrieved and put on then I would give up now. I don't think I could continue with any role that was making me so resentful and unhappy.
Honestly, someone else will turn up to take on the job.

I have a voluntary role. I just do as much or as little as I like. I am not going to impinge on my family life or make myself miserable about it. I personally enjoy it. Once I stop enjoying it, then I will finish.
I don't expect any thanks, as it is my choice.
I think your DH is right. Resign.

You are right i did volunteer but only because otherwise they would have had to have closed. Initially i found it interesting; EYFS, employment law, running a business etc but now the original nice staff have left. My son enjoys going so i dont want to fall out with them completely but i resent the lack of thanks, the whiney staff and the time it takes. I dont see that committee run nurseries are sustainable and another has closed in our area. I feel ive done a great job in tricky circumstances but i hsve run out of energy for it now. I had thought i would do 1 more year but i feel its coming to a crunch. just needed to vent my feelings!!

I sympathise with you loads flashbunny I think you sound heroic quite honestly, to have stuck at such a thankless task so long.

The following story has nothing to do with your dilemma, but shows some of the risks of volunteering.
The other day, a woman approached me and said' oh you're on the Council , then pointed to a drain and told me it overflowed during the last flash flood.

I am on the Parish Council which has absolutely nothing to do with responsibility for the drains.
As I was walking back to my house pondering ( and laughing to myself) on what she had said to me ( you can't imagine the effort we put in to try and educate people what it is a Parish Council do) I saw a lorry from the County Council, who were, wonders of wonders cleaning the drains. They come once in a blue moon to our Parish.
I swiftly directed them to the drain indicated to me by this daft woman.

I then knocked on her door and said the deed was done. Wow, was she in awe of my powers.

I was being totally silly when I related this story to my husband.

Then I had the thought that she might knock on my door next time her sink is blocked, and I sobered up.

Volunteering is a risky business.

My username might give you an indication of how my 3 years as a chair of a preschool went... Quit and do it now. I ended up with extreme anxiety, couldn't cope with my actual paid job and 6 months down the line am still on citalopram, in counselling and unemployed.

I've been through all you listed plus doing payroll every month (including when my youngest was 6 days old) and an employment tribunal.

If you don't want to do it - don't. You've done a huge amount already and it is fine to say that it's someone else's turn.

I have been there, it's tough. Do what you need to.

Thanks for your replies. PreschoolHell I'm so sorry to hear how you have suffered. The responsibility of it is the final straw and I cant believe you had to deal with an employment tribunal - that certainly would be the final straw. The secretary asked me today if I would change my mind but I said no, I'll be resigning this autumn. I feel quite sad but I have to let go, put my energy into my family and hope someone else (with half a brain...) picks it up.

Deep breath!!

And holeinmyheart your efficiency will certainly get you re-elected!!

Thanks flash bunny 73 but I do enjoy it at the moment as it is interesting. Remember the council meetings from The Vicar of Dibley ?
Anyway I hope you get a lovely thankyou from someone after all your efforts as you deserve it.
I don't think anything is worth stressing yourself about.
X

Ladies, I am starting to feel better already :-)

I can relate as I used to be codirector of our leasehold association. Let me put it this way - at one point I slept with a baseball bat next to my bed because I felt 1 person got so unhinged about majority vote decisions that had to be made. Never received a thank you or gratitude from anyone even the sane ones in 5 years.