Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Remind me to never be Homeroom Mom again

In our school, the homeroom moms do not assist the teacher in anything educational (honestly thank God - I don't want these nasty women "working with" my son in the classrooom). We do party stuff and chaperone field trips...We coordinate supply donations for the parties. We collect money to buy the teachers and paras gifts. It's not bad to have that kind of help, I know. I assume it can be quite a help to the teacher on party days if she knows how to use us (like the teacher has the other homeroom mom bringing in hot coco for the the kids polar express party - HRmom has to make it and put in in some sort of cooler to keep it warm/hot, birng it and set up, and hand it out to the kids and then clean it up... Nice that the teacher doesn't have to do all that!

Also, I should count my blessings - from what I understand our principal and some PTA member got together put a number of limits on what the parties could have in terms of baked goods and food spreads, etc. because, apparently, it was getting a little crazy with homeroom moms sort-of out-doing each other. For example, there is a list of food items that we have to adhere to and we get the other parents to contirbute those...and it is kept the same across the board so no one class' food spread is particularly more elaborate than another's.

It's just that the women who volunteer in my school tend to be cliquey, gossipy, mean-girl types. All the same women pretty much volunteer for the same things, they're all on yearbook and PTA and such ... And of course they all talk about each other, etc... There is drama and power spats. The other thing they tend to do is volunteer for everything - so they are homeroom AND library mom AND yearbook mom, etc...

My co-homeroom mom seems quite keen on having her buddies at the class parties which at the holiday party resulted in like 5 adults being there (there is a "rule" against that too but she seems to be doing anyway). I find her really pushy about it and when I kind of protest alittle she acts like I am purposely trying to exclude people. She's also a bit control-freakish or maybe it's a power thing - but she just takes right over ... Which is fine with me until it becomes insulting. Our PTA does a lot of fundraising, the parents are all very involved, etc. The downside it it can get ... well... gossipy, cliquey, yucky.

The thing is, imo, our school does all of this fluff stuff - grandparents day, american education week, class parties... But you're not really getting a look at what is going on at the school b/c that is not when you see the real day.... It's fluff - an hour of arts and crafts. I guess one can see what goes on socially a little bit. Really, a little less homeroom mom and fluff stuff and a little more education would not be a bad idea.

I liked being a library volunteer the best. It was really a help to the library b/c the librarian and the assistant get overwhelmed helping kids find books. I would check in and check out the kiddos and shelve books... I could watch how well my son listens and behaves during the story, how well he found books, how well he interacted with other when it was time to sit and read and talk about your book quietly with friends, etc. I could also see how the teacher handled things.