Last year, we put Captain Jelly Belly in preschool, three mornings a week. We chose the school because our friends Mr. and Mrs. Carl Sagan were sending their son there, and Little Carl Sagan is the Captain’s best friend, by virtue of the fact that he sees LCS more than most other little kids.

The preschool is a co-op, which means that the parents do some of the work of maintaining the place. About once every other month, you have a duty day, in which you provide the snack and help around the class during art time and then clean up when the day is over. You also have to do fundraising, which involves selling stuff like coffee and cookie dough — or, you can avoid dealing with the public altogether, like us, and “buy out” your fundraising obligation. actually calculated this year that if you spend your “buy out” money on actual merchandise instead, it will cover your fundraising obligation. So if anyone is interested in coffee and cookie dough, let me know, and I’ll get you $250 worth instead of buying out this year.

In addition to that work, every parent has obligations to one or two committees. These committees do special jobs like raking the yard in the fall, shoveling snow in the winter, preparing paper or felt shapes for crafts, or cleaning and sterilizing the toys on a semi-regular basis. Most of these jobs are, I think, undesirable, and last year I was so worried about how much work it was all going to be, and how we were going to fit that into our schedule, and how it was all going to pan out.

But I’m happy to say that the people at the co-op obviously love me very, very much, because last year, I totally got off easy. So easy, in fact, that I was afraid to mention it before now, for fear it would jinx me for this coming year, in which Gal Smiley will be attending the same school. Last year, I was on the craft committee, which meant I was suppose to prepare stuff for crafts, but they never actually asked me to do anything. Anything. Not one project! My scissors and glue lay at home, unused! My other committee was sewing, in which I would be asked to “make costumes and do minor sewing repairs.” And over the course of the whole year I did…nothing! Not one sewing project! In addition, I had also volunteered to maintain and overhaul their website, and they said, no worries, we are getting someone else to do it. And also, due to my extreme pregnancy in the late months of last year, I got out of one duty day I should have had late in June, because they figured I was just too big and bulky to do it (thank goodness), and they made some other poor parent take the day instead.

Is that the best, or what?

So this year, I was all afraid of what committees I might get, due to built-up co-op karma waiting for me. And what do I get this year? First up, Telephone — this requires me to be part of a phone tree, which means I need to contact 5 to 10 other parents in the event that the school is closed due to an emergency, like a water main leak or a fire. Last year this happened…never. Second up, I got sewing again, and we all know what that led to last year. Nada.

Man, by the time the Wee One gets there, I am going to have to practically be the President, Secretary, Janitor, and Fundraising Committee Head just to make it all up. In the meantime, here’s to co-ops!