Last night Asher and I volunteered for an event benefiting his swim team from 6:30- 8:15.
Once a year, a locally based/ now-chain Wisconsin fan-favorite restaurant called Culver’s does a benefit night for his team, where a % of the proceeds go to the team. As such, they ask for some team volunteers to “help out” (wearing our Swim Team shirts) to sort of promote the cause, etc.
I had signed us up- me, Ethan and Asher- thinking it would be a win-win, because if you recall, Ethan needs 100 community service hours. Volunteering for the swim team (a nonprofit community organization) would count.
Well, turns out Ethan didn’t end up doing it; he has two tests at school this week to prep for and already had soccer from 3:30-6…. Once Asher and I got there, we realized there were a couple of extra people and we didn’t need Ethan anyway, so he stayed home with Ivan and studied.
Asher and another girl were the “food runners” (carry trays out to the lobby and find the number on the table to deliver to the correct customers).
Here’s Asher debuting his fast food skills, hahaha!
I took the “Wipe Tables in the Lobby” shift.
You know who makes an excellent Fast Food Lobby cleaner?? A mom, that’s who. Let me tell you, I was on it on those tables. (It also wasn’t actually that busy, so I partly just wanted to stay occupied instead of awkwardly standing around in my blue apron… as soon as someone left, bam. I was there and that table was wiped SPOTLESS. ; )
There was one incident where apparently an older man’s custard order got missed (not Asher’s fault; I think the real Culver’s workers accidentally deleted it somehow and never prepared it.) Anyway, he waited a super long time and then was pretty annoyed. I noticed him looking upset so I checked to see what was wrong, but then had to basically say, “OK, well, I, um, don’t actually work here, I’m just a mom wiping tables and I can’t go behind the counter.” 🤣 But I caught the Shift Leaders attention and connected them. The man promptly received his custard AND a coupon for a free one next time. There. All better.
Overall- a fun little adventure in the middle of the week.
I was also more than happy to do this short volunteer stint. Quick, easy and honestly pretty fun.
I recently resigned from my huge Volunteer Coordinator role on the Meet Committee (long time readers will know how stressful this was) and let me tell you. I am so glad I am not doing that anymore.
Yes, there were things I liked and enjoyed about it. But last week I got the group email about one of the planning meetings for the upcoming October meet (I’m still on the email list) and I was just like, THANK GOD I don’t have to go to that, think about it, start planning all of that…. The way my stomach kind of turned just even thinking about it assures me I made the right choice in finally stepping away from that for now. 🙂
Totally changing gears, I also just wanted to share about a free webinar called Parenting in the Digital Age that I learned about hosted by Dr. Jacqueline Nessi, PhD.
She is a Clincal Psychologist and Professor at Brown University and is an expert in all things Digital + Parenting. She’s also a parent herself. I enjoy her weekly? I think? newsletters and I think I may try to check out this webinar!
This is the link to register (it’s free).
If you’re interested in checking out her newsletter, this is the link for that.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for my hot tea in the morning.
GRATEFUL KAE 
Oh that’s fun! I like to try for 30-40 hours a year of volunteering, which counts the active travel committee stuff at my son’s school, helping run the uniform bank, and helping with a local zero waste organisation. I’m pretty naturally social and find these help me connect a bit more with my community.
Although I want nothing to do with the school “discos” or kids who aren’t mine in general.
And there’s nothing better than quitting something that’s become an ordeal. You dread doing it but then feel instantly better.
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I cannot wait until January 1 of next year when my volunteering gig is off my plate and I can be as excited about you that I don’t have to do it anymore. *sigh* There’s nothing worse than feeling stressed about volunteer work! I’m glad your Culver’s shift was pretty easy!
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I’m a big fan of Technosapiens! She is in a similar stage of parenting to me. Her child is around 2 and she has a baby on the way. She is a very entertaining writer and makes me not freak out about screens (obv we are careful about screen exposure but she is a calming voice about parenting and tech).
That volunteer event sounds fun! Since you have a history as a server I bet it kind of brought you back a bit to those days. I loved serving in college. It was a fun, fast paced environment. My parents LOVE Culver’s. When we would drive to visit my brother in Chicago when I was younger, they would plan our stop based on where they could get Culver’s. It’s not as easy to find around here. I don’t know if any in the twin cities but I am sure we have some in the burbs.
I am glad you are done with that volunteer gig! You put in your time! And I am sure you’ll be great about being a volunteer at meets and such!!
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This does sound fun! Being a table wiper sounds like a very satisfying job. And I’m also grateful for my hot tea in the morning!
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That sounds like a fun volunteer gig. I am glad you were able to help out the grumpy customer, too. A little kindness goes a long way 😉
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