Tonight for the third year in a row, I participated in our children's school's Annual Fund Phonathon. I was with some good friends from the school that are all positive and supportive of the school in so many ways. It was an exciting and fun night for us all.
It wasn't that way for me two years ago when I entered the classroom on the eve of the phonathon though. I was a wreck. I didn't want to call people. I didn't want to ask for their money. I didn't want them to think I was begging. I wanted to say I was sorry for wasting their time. And above all, I just didn't want them to answer the phone so I didn't have to talk to them.
This isn't uncommon, I know. I understand fundraising now and I didn't mind calling people tonight, even people I'd never met or grandparents who didn't know who I was. I spoke with several very nice people, one of whom I wasn't sure I was going to get off the phone with before our calling window was over (he was that enthusiastic about the school).
It was a successful night. We raised nearly one-third of our total annual fund goal from taking two hours to call families and friends of the school. We had several people cancel at the last minute, so we picked up more names on sheets and made calls to additional people. It was a busy night as well.
I got a lot of voice mails and I left a lot of messages that I will follow-up with tomorrow with emails asking the family to consider a gift (or a larger gift than last year) to the school's annual fund and I'll have some nice responses from families that I contact if the last two years is any indication.
It's taken three years, but I no longer stare at the phone, not wanting to dial the numbers, hoping that the person will please just not answer the phone.
The Big Boy Update: Zero. My son clearly understands that when you don't want any of something you want zero of that thing. If he's angry (like he was this morning) and you offer choices, he may well tell you, "I want zero."
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Hello Kitty underpants. My daughter came home in underpants that weren't hers today. They were covered in Hello Kitty and she really liked them. We don't have many girl underpants because she's never expressed interest in things other than Superman, Batman, Elmo and non-girly (read more boyish) styles. So today after lunch we went to Target and got her some Hello Kitty underpants of her own. She was so pleased by them she went through three pair before dinner.
My Husband's Fitness Update: My husband got the new Microsoft Band this past weekend. It's like a fitbit but with more features and integration with his cell phone. He's set for himself a walking goal each day. Last night he hadn't reached that goal so he and I went walking around the neighborhood for about a mile-and-a-half. We did intervals of fast walking and slow walking to try and up our cardio. Walking felt slow to me in comparison to running, but it was a nice night out without children in the neighborhood.
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