Having been both a Teacher and a Room Mom, I must give this Room Mom’n business to you straight.  The cr8joi life is NOT about judgment, ever.  So before we jump in, here’s what you must remember . . . you have to do what’s best for you and your family!  Maybe that means being a Room Mom and maybe it means NOT being Room Mom.

To be or not to be Room Mom?

That is the question.

Here are the REAL Pros and Cons of being a Room Mom:

(*Or Room Dad, Room Grandparent, or Room Guardian . . . . please don’t take offense.  For the sake of ease of reading this post, the Class Volunteer Position is called Room Mom.  Room Mom may also be used as a verb. hmK? 😉 )

To Be . . .

You have the time. 

You  have the time and  want to be actively involved in your child’s school. You are already up there most of the time anyways.  Your schedule is flexible enough to help out during the school day.  You are able to attend PTO meetings.  You have time to prepare emails and shop for class parties.  You have the time.  I repeat you have the time.

You want to network with the school community.

Being Room Mom is a great way to build school relationships. The teachers, Principal, and PTO will see you as an actively involved parent and know you by name. Other parents will appreciate your service and share information and resources with you. (This is assuming you are doing a good job and fulfilling your responsibilities.)

You want to get to know your child’s classmates.

The children will get to know you  and as a result their parents will too.  This can be a great thing if you are looking to make connections with other families. It’s also a great way to see “that friend” your child is always talking about in action.  Is their friendship a good fit or not?  You may also gain a better understanding of how your own child acts in his/her school environment.

 

Not to be . . .

You don’t have a lot of patience or tolerance.

You can express the party details in three emails, flyers, and post it the class group. There will always be parents who are like “I didn’t know.” These are the same parents that will likely have an attitude too. Do you have the tolerance and grace for these kinds of situations and people?

You do not have time or are not willing to pick up the slack.

The class party may call for juice boxes that didn’t come in. Nobody signed up to clean-up after the party. Are you willing to be the person to bridge the gap? Are you able to buy the juice boxes at the last minute? Can you stay to clean-up or will the baby crumble because he missed naptime? Will you have enough time to get across town in traffic to get the big girl to dance?  Also, you should consider how you view your child’s time at school.  Is it tag teacher, you’re it!  I’m out!  Just sayin’ . . .

You want to spend more time with your child.

Now you are probably thinking if you are signing up to Room Mom, that you will to spend more time with your little person. Let me tell you something…that’s a myth. When you are serving as a Room Mom. You are there to help the class. You will be busy volunteering. It’s not the same as attending the party and sitting with your child. As Room Mom, you probably won’t sit. You will likely run around in hostess super-mom mode . . . running games, serving snacks, working with all the students. Volunteering as Room Mom will honestly take time away from your child’s one-on-one time for the greater good of the class. You will write emails and run errands for supplies. Those things you can do with your child in tow. But for the in-school things, don’t expect to check your quality time with the kid box.

I hope this post helps you decide if being a Room Mom is right for you.  Let me know what you think.

If, you do decide to serve as Room Mom.  Or you’re a teacher looking for a way to organize your Parent Volunteers my friend Sam, Our Blessed Homeschool,  has a great editable resource to make it easier.