Stop Me Before I Volunteer AGAIN!!!

It's that time of year... The kids have started back to school, therefore the begging for volunteers has begun! I'm a volunteer and have a very hard time saying no. It's an illness, no doubt, and one that people can easily recognize. Eyes light up when I enter a room because people KNOW they can ask me to do practically anything and I'll say yes. Why is that? What's my problem? Sometimes I think the word "VOLUNTEER" must be written on my forehead - it's THAT obvious!

I think many people automatically expect us stay-at-home types to have all the time in the world to devote to volunteering. They think our days are empty because our kids are at school. "Hey, Marva can do that because she doesn't work," is what they must be thinking. Hey, people, I have blogging to do, bon-bons to eat and soap operas to watch! I can't be expected to do EVERYTHING, can I?

I could analyze this to death. Maybe it's my internal need to please everyone. Maybe it's because I'm afraid if I don't volunteer it will reflect poorly upon me. Maybe I just need to get over it and start learning that simple 2-letter word... N-O! I suppose I could even add a second word to make that sound nicer... NO, "THANKS."

I'm trying to find ways to combat my problem. Coming up with a game plan isn't easy. Let's see... I need to avoid walking into the school, refuse to make eye contact with everyone, stop answering my phone and pretend my computer has crashed. I can do that, right? Right?