I should have said no.
The PTA form asked for people to fill out a specific portion if you are able to be a room parent. I should have just kept that part blank.
I had been a room parent for the last 4 or 5 years so I knew what it entailed. I always had one other parent in the role with me, and even with the tasks split, it was something with deadlines and emails and stuff to do. Things to do that I probably didn’t have time for this year.
But I felt obligated in a way; what if no one else signed up? So I wrote that if there was no one else, I would be willing to help out. At worst I figured I would be paired with someone who could lead the charge and I could be a wing-man.
This proved to be faulty logic because guess who got picked to be the sole room parent since no one else signed up?
There is no wing-man to help me if I’m saying I’ll do it if there’s no one else!
And no one to help me remember when things are coming up.
Three days before I was meant to plan an in-class holiday celebration, complete with games, snacks and a craft, one of my friends asked me about the party coming up.
A party that I had completely forgotten about.
Three days is far fewer days than I usually take to plan something like this, especially when I am doing it solo.
Long story short, I was able to throw something together and it wasn’t too terribly awful. The kids seemed to have fun and no one was the wiser.
But I was under the gun and stressing out big time for those 3 days, scrambling to get it all figured out and done. This was the reason that I should have said no, I knew there would be too many things to juggle and something was going to slip through the cracks.
It’s safe to say that I was feeling regret at saying yes to being the room parent.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being able to participate in the classroom and see the joy on the children’s faces. I know my son appreciates it and feels happy to have me be the room parent. I feel fortunate to be able to be in the school at all.
I said yes because I felt guilty there was a chance the teacher would be left in a lurch.
I said yes because I had been a room parent for my older son for many years; I didn’t want my younger son to feel slighted. (More guilt.)
I said yes because I wanted to be able to do it all. In the past I was able to dedicate more time to this role and this year I knew it would probably be too much and I kind of ended up being right.
Next year, that volunteer portion of the PTA form will remain blank, even if the guilt starts creeping in of why I should say yes. I don’t want to regret saying yes.
And I will be more than happy to support whoever ends up as the room parent. I just don’t want to lead the charge and regret it.
If you are looking for some help keeping your commitments to a manageable amount, let’s talk. I can be your wing-man. Send me an email at [email protected]