I was the PTA mom who did everything. Then I decided my son needed me more.
A mother reflects on her decision to step back from intensive PTA volunteering to focus on her son's final years of high school. She emphasizes the importance of prioritizing personal family time over extracurricular school commitments.
Why it matters
It highlights the evolving expectations of parental involvement in schools and the personal trade-offs parents make during their children's transition to adulthood.
The author said she spent years volunteering at her son's schools; now she's showing up for him in a different way. Courtesy of Nina McCollum. I was very involved with school activities when my son was in elementary school. Personal challenges changed how I prioritized time with my child and made me rethink my efforts. After the first band booster meeting, I elected not to join. I have no regrets. I am the mom of an only child , and my 17-year-old son is a senior this year. I've always tried to volunteer and get involved to help out and enrich his school experience, but in recent years, I've scaled back. When he started high school and joined the marching band in ninth grade, I no longer wanted to be scurrying around on the sidelines, taking care of things for everyone else's kids.
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