Well,
that clearly isn't the kind of input that schools want, Bostonian.
Honestly, we've had
such hideous experiences with other parents in these kinds of positions that I find it difficult to be unbiased about them. I
hate doing this kind of thing, but the alternative has most often been that my kid winds up being completely unable to participate at all if I don't. Strange, I know...
My own view of Room Mom is that she's some kind of grown up Queen Bee acting as social director for the classroom, and often as not
dictating to other parents and the teacher about non-educational activities, most of them involving copious amounts of expense and food.
The other kind of parent volunteer? The one that asks the teacher "how can I help?" rather than "I have this great idea"?
Well, THOSE parents I have no problem with-- they aren't the ones that make my life a nightmare.
Sadly, even the fairly innocuous cupcake-wielding room moms tend to be a serious problem for us personally. That nonsense is a very real reason why we've not been able to put DD14 into a classroom setting. I know that most people don't like to hear that, but believe me, if your child has dietary restrictions that result in life-threatening problems, those cupcakes/cookies are a HUGE problem. Bottom line? They simply have no authentic educational purpose in a classroom. That doesn't even begin to touch upon the kind of unbelievable OTHER uses of food that get promoted by the more over-zealous type of Martha-Stewart-wannabe Room Mom.
I've often wondered why it seems that so many B&M schools now apparently double as full-time party venues, and why so many parents seem to have a deep-seated need to act as social directors worthy of a luxury cruise ship or top-notch wedding planner. What
is that?? Furthermore, why on earth are teachers not more empowered to tell them to pound sand?? It's not like most teachers are thrilled about losing that much instructional time either.
Less Homeroom Mom stuff, more education, I say.
{LIKE} ^
