I'm done volunteering at my kids' schools. Now I'm planning to give that time back to myself.

The author, who has spent many years being a room parent, is passing on the torch to other volunteers at her kids' schools. Courtesy of Jamie Davis Smith. My kids now range in age from 11 to 20. I've spent the past two decades being a room parent and volunteering at their schools. Now, I'm done. It's time for me to pass the torch and focus on my own interests again. For years, I was an active elementary school volunteer . Although I never dove headlong into the often intense world of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), for more than a decade, I dutifully served as a room parent for one or more of my four children's classes. Now, my youngest child is moving on to middle school , and my days as a school volunteer are coming to an end.