I went to my first PTA meeting of the school year yesterday, and got the most fun object lesson. I’m going to share it here because it could be used for other things, not jut PTA. First she passed around a platter from Subway with those half sandwiches on it (food is always appreciated, right?), and then handed out the following:

A PTA Sandwich

Do you ever get the feeling that it is too hard to SANDWICH in PTA between everything else? And most of the time it turns out to be a JAM sandwich? Let’s make a sandwich together and see what it takes to turn a sandwich into a real picnic!

Bread (2 slices)–First you need a strong foundation. What is expected of you?
Butter–Spread yourself around. Get to know others, be receptive to learning more.
Mustard–Be Prepared. Muster up the courage to ask questions or make comments.
Miracle Whip–When you praise others for their effors, it acts like a miracle.
Meat–Help get to the meat of responsibilities, share the load, finish on time.
Cheese–We all need to feel like the big cheese once in a while. Let’s remember to cheer each other on.
Lettuce–Lettuce make sure we delegate or we may feel overwhelmed.
Tomato–Don’t sling tomatoes at others’ efforts. Always use tact and good judgement.

And you can’t have a picnic without a few extras…
Chips–Everyone needs to chip in and help our PTA be the best we can be.
Drink–Don’t forget to add some sparkle!!
Ants–Don’t be bugged by criticism or things that don’t go as planned. Try to be patient, learn from your experiences.
*******

Cute, isn’t it? After my meeting I went and did some “back to school shopping”. I spent about 80 dollars on clothes for the kids, and about that much —okay, maybe a little bit more–on clothes for me. Whoops? Well, nobody said the clothes were only for the kids who were going back to school, did they?