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Thread: Maybe It's Me?

  1. #1
    lizzywednesday is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Default Maybe It's Me?

    I have one troop parent who seems to be absolutely incapable of following instructions.

    I send emails.
    I make TeamApp posts.
    I send home printed flyers.

    And STILL they absolutely refuse to follow instructions.

    The girls' 2020 cookie sale rewards have come in; they are currently quarantined in my car before I sort them for delivery.

    I sent this email today:

    We made it! Troop ##### sold ### total boxes of cookies this season ...

    Please find a PDF of [Troop Member]'s rewards attached to this message.

    Our troop earned the 2020 Cookie Share Patch by selling ## Cookie Share boxes.

    Similar to last year, I will package every Girl Scout's rewards in plastic, placing patches in a sealed envelope to help prevent lost items.

    Please use the rewards delivery survey to help me arrange delivery of [Troop Member]'s prizes: (link to super-short SurveyMonkey survey asking for Scout's name, the type of residence, whether they have a safe spot for me to leave the items, and, if the family would prefer not to have me traipsing about, an option to come to my home and pick things up from a bin on my porch)
    I also posted this message on our TeamApp:

    WHAT?

    The 2020 Cookie Sale Rewards have arrived and I have picked them up from [SU Cookie Manager.]

    Those Girl Scouts who earned rewards all worked extremely hard this sale, so I am emailing parents by Sunday, June 7th to arrange prize delivery.

    I would like to make these deliveries as safe as possible, which means reducing contact wherever and however possible.

    Parents of Girl Scouts who will receive 2020 Cookie Sale rewards will receive an email from me by Sunday evening, June 7th, with an overview of what your Scout earned.

    If your Girl Scout sold cookies in 2020, please respond to this survey about contactless delivery/pick up before Tuesday, June 9th: (link to SurveyMonkey survey asking for type of residence, whether they have a safe spot for me to leave the items, and an option to come to my home and pick things up from a bin on my porch)
    Parent, who I've been having SERIOUS issues with all year, TEXTS ME today asking if I will mail the items or if she can pick up.

    After fuming a bit, I replied that there was a link to the pickup survey in the email(s) that went out today.

    She filled out the survey, texted me to say she couldn't reply for both her kids individually (this is OK; I only needed 1 response)

    No problem; I reassured her that I knew there were 2 Scouts in her family and thanked her for following instructions.

    I can't check surveys on my phone (there's probably an app, but I prefer to do most of my "business" from my laptop) so I didn't check until a few minutes ago ... and she didn't indicate HOW TO GET THE F^CKING ITEMS TO HER KIDS.

    Fortunately, for this particular family, I can actually mail the kids' stuff, but, I don't understand how difficult it is to indicate whether I'm dropping things off or you're picking things up.

    Is it me?
    ==========================================
    Liz
    DD (3/2010)

    "Make mistakes! Get messy!" - Miss Frizzle

  2. #2
    Liziz is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    There's always one. It's not you. There's always that one who doesn't want to read all the instructions, who doesn't look carefully enough, etc. It's maddening when you're the one coordinating.
    Lizi

  3. #3
    Kestrel is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Sometimes, it's easier to get a reasonable answer from the child instead of the parent. Unless there's some language barrier, I find it hard to believe you could have done anything more clearly than you did.

  4. #4
    MMMommy is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    It’s definitely not you, it’s her! You couldn’t have been more clear in your instructions. It annoys me when friends ask questions, then I answer in detail, and their responses are “I didn’t bother to read” or “I never read carefully.” Sigh.
    Mommy to Two DDs
    Member of the BBB I Love Brussels Sprouts Society

    (Why? Because the banana smilie is just so funny)

  5. #5
    lizzywednesday is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kestrel View Post
    ... Unless there's some language barrier, I find it hard to believe you could have done anything more clearly than you did.
    English isn't her first language, but because I have a lot of ELL troop parents, I try to be as clear and concise as possible.

    I am not always successful, so I accept that there's the distinct possibility that I'm not doing my best. (I have 16 girls registered in 2 troop numbers for a total of 15 families, 14 of whom are actively participating in Girl Scouts this spring.)
    Last edited by lizzywednesday; 06-08-2020 at 08:04 PM.
    ==========================================
    Liz
    DD (3/2010)

    "Make mistakes! Get messy!" - Miss Frizzle

  6. #6
    lizzywednesday is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Liziz View Post
    There's always one. It's not you. There's always that one who doesn't want to read all the instructions, who doesn't look carefully enough, etc. It's maddening when you're the one coordinating.
    It's been her for the past 2 years.

    She's the same person I will need to ban from volunteering at cookie booths next year.

    Quote Originally Posted by MMMommy View Post
    It’s definitely not you, it’s her! You couldn’t have been more clear in your instructions. ....
    Thanks; I really appreciate it.

    I try really hard to be clear and brief.

    Even if I am not able to be brief, I cross my fingers that I have been clear.

    This parent ... leaves me scratching my head. I'm so done with her this year.
    ==========================================
    Liz
    DD (3/2010)

    "Make mistakes! Get messy!" - Miss Frizzle

  7. #7
    niccig is offline Clean Sweep forum moderator
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    Default Maybe It's Me?

    If everyone else is following directions, it’s her. Maybe she’s not understanding (ELL, reading difficulties, memory difficulties), maybe she’s not reading it all before responding, or maybe she does what suits her regardless of directions. If majority are following directions, it’s not you.

    In the survey, make the questions mandatory so she has to answer before submits


    Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains
    Last edited by niccig; 06-08-2020 at 07:59 PM.

  8. #8
    lizzywednesday is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by niccig View Post
    ... maybe she’s not reading it all before responding ...
    She is DEFINITELY not reading it all before responding.


    In the survey, make the questions mandatory so she has to answer before submits
    I usually do, but for this survey I happened to have used the free ed'n of SurveyMonkey instead of Google Forms for this one and asked a lot of things that couldn't be mandatory, so I lost the "if answer is X, then Y" control of Google Forms. (It's a paid feature in SurveyMonkey.)
    ==========================================
    Liz
    DD (3/2010)

    "Make mistakes! Get messy!" - Miss Frizzle

  9. #9
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    It's not you. There is always at least one in every group.

    I've done GS cookies for DD's troop four years now. I had a mother one year respond to my FINAL email about cookie inventory saying her daughter wanted to sell. Our season was completely OVER. It was my email to the troop with final numbers and including the list five lonely boxes of cookies still at my house I was trying to unload.

    I have a friend who got riled up with the stupid questions popping up in a moms' of kids in same grade group text that she actually responded with "I'm going to need you people to start reading your emails."

  10. #10
    lizzywednesday is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by belovedgandp View Post
    It's not you. There is always at least one in every group.
    Like I said upthread, it's been this particular person for the past 3 years. Last year, my co-leader ran interference; she came off as the "type-A" harda$$ while I came across as the "softer" party.

    This year, I was EXTREMELY aware of needing to word things clearly and briefly.

    Sometimes, I was successful for everybody except the non-readers/non-emailers (and don't get me started on the woman who's still using Hotmail and complaining about how much "garbage" she gets there so she just doesn't check it) but the TeamApp helped push info out to them too.

    I've done GS cookies for DD's troop four years now. I had a mother one year respond to my FINAL email about cookie inventory saying her daughter wanted to sell. Our season was completely OVER. It was my email to the troop with final numbers and including the list five lonely boxes of cookies still at my house I was trying to unload.
    HA! That's SO bad and reminds me of a new-to-Scouting family (so, I get it, I'll be a little more flexible/lenient) who told me AT AN EVENT (which I hate - if I'm supervising Scouts at an event, I can't pay attention to parents), AFTER FALL PRODUCT SALES HAD CLOSED that her kid had sold $45 worth of stuff ... and I was like, Oh? Really? Because I need to know that so I can (1) put her orders in or else her customers are going to be disappointed and (2) get the money from you, because this stuff's gotta be pre-paid. (We were able to manually put in the orders, and this is a HUGE reason why I love our Fall Product manager.)

    I had a different family, the last troop meeting before our final 3 booths (2 of which were full), ask to have their kid added to a booth sale.

    I said it's on the Signup Genius and they can add her to the booth there tonight. Have her at X place at Y time, wearing her uniform.

    They still couldn't manage to understand that they had to (1) sign up and (2) show up. (Fine; I transferred boxes I sold at the bank to Scouts who weren't actively selling to improve our average - our profits are calculated using the "per girl average," so we start out earning $0.70/box until the PGA is over 100. The troop number this particular kid is with lost sales because last year's big seller decided not to return.)

    I have a friend who got riled up with the stupid questions popping up in a moms' of kids in same grade group text that she actually responded with "I'm going to need you people to start reading your emails."
    I have had parents who ask if I can text them when I send an email.

    No; the whole point of my sending an email is so I can reach everybody all at once. Read the emails, please.

    Also? The need for an in-their-pocket alert is the reason we added TeamApp this year (if you don't turn off notifications, you get an alert whenever something with a notification is posted!) and you should have it on your smartphone. (All my troop parents, and some of the girls, have smartphones.)

    I'm getting to the point where I have to edit everything 4 or 5 times before it goes out or else my tone gets snippy.
    ==========================================
    Liz
    DD (3/2010)

    "Make mistakes! Get messy!" - Miss Frizzle

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