Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree there is a happy medium. I feel bad for the kids whose parent is always at their activity with no room to breathe.

I would do a few in person volunteering, made sure i was not at every field trip, did some volunteering in the background (treasurer), and coached a sport a few years but not all of them.

If your parent is your coach every.single.year for every.single.sport - red flag.
If you parent lives at the school.... red flag.

My spouse is coaching 2 soccer teams, 1 football team, and 2 basketball teams this year because no one else volunteered. If there are no coaches there are no teams. Maybe thank the volunteers who do it so the kids can play.

get that man a cookie!

Honestly this makes me angry. I have stepped up as a volunteer numerous times when I didn’t want to because no one else was there. I served on our PTO board and the Cub Scout committee. I’ve supported events at school that my kids weren’t even doing because they would have been cancelled otherwise. I’ve done my best to fill in the gaps as needed.

It’s absolutely galling that someone like op sits back while other people do all the work. And not even just sits out, she actively judges the people doing the work to make these things happen. I’m judging you, op. You’re a lazy and selfish parent willing to ride the coattails of the people who care enough to make things happen for your kids. Time for you to step up and get involved. Put your money where your mean mouth is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody else feel bad for the parents who feel the need to volunteer for everything their kid does-helps on the field for every football game, chaperones every field trip, flies to every school trip?
And they act like they know all the kids and the “kids just love” them.

It’s almost like they are reliving their youth

What is the explanation for your character defect? Seriously, who thinks this way?

Someone who is wildly insecure and never volunteers for anything.

Anonymous wrote:Let me guess, op. You drop your kid off to events and programs and never give a second thought to the labor required to make them happen.

+1
When I am lugging crates to my car and unloading a pallet of paper plates from Costco for pizza day I'll remember that OP thinks I'm "reliving my youth."

Anonymous wrote:Anybody else feel bad for the parents who feel the need to volunteer for everything their kid does-helps on the field for every football game, chaperones every field trip, flies to every school trip?
And they act like they know all the kids and the “kids just love” them.

It’s almost like they are reliving their youth

What is the explanation for your character defect? Seriously, who thinks this way?

This was my mom. She genuinely loved it. And the other kids loved her. I wished I appreciated it more when I was younger. Kids used to comment how great she was or how lucky I was etc but I was always more annoyed that she was always there.

Anonymous wrote:At our school, the seniors got service awards if the parents were big volunteers. So it paid off.

Yea, that’s a big payoff. So worth the hours and hours of unpaid labor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree there is a happy medium. I feel bad for the kids whose parent is always at their activity with no room to breathe.

I would do a few in person volunteering, made sure i was not at every field trip, did some volunteering in the background (treasurer), and coached a sport a few years but not all of them.

If your parent is your coach every.single.year for every.single.sport - red flag.
If you parent lives at the school.... red flag.

My spouse is coaching 2 soccer teams, 1 football team, and 2 basketball teams this year because no one else volunteered. If there are no coaches there are no teams. Maybe thank the volunteers who do it so the kids can play.

Agreed. I volunteer to make my kid's life enriched in whatever small way that I can. Yes, other kids benefit too.

After my kids go to college, do you think I will be volunteering at school, PTA or sports like I do now?

Anonymous wrote:No, I'm grateful for these parents so I don't have to volunteer at every event.

Amen. I only do some

Anonymous wrote:I agree there is a happy medium. I feel bad for the kids whose parent is always at their activity with no room to breathe.

I would do a few in person volunteering, made sure i was not at every field trip, did some volunteering in the background (treasurer), and coached a sport a few years but not all of them.

If your parent is your coach every.single.year for every.single.sport - red flag.
If you parent lives at the school.... red flag.

My spouse is coaching 2 soccer teams, 1 football team, and 2 basketball teams this year because no one else volunteered. If there are no coaches there are no teams. Maybe thank the volunteers who do it so the kids can play.

Anonymous wrote:At our school, the seniors got service awards if the parents were big volunteers. So it paid off.

Awwww! Actually, you got it all all wrong. And it seems you have no idea how the service hours are earned and how the service awards are given.

Parents usually end up volunteering at places and events where their kids are already doing service or participating in some way - mainly because of logistics. The parents are anyways driving their kids back and forth and they are already there for the event - so might as well also volunteer and make the event progress smoothly.

It is not rocket science.

It has been my experience that volunteers don’t spend a lot of time with the kids anyway, or not more than the other parents. Volunteering involves a lot of grunt work before and after.

Anonymous wrote:Anybody else feel bad for the parents who feel the need to volunteer for everything their kid does-helps on the field for every football game, chaperones every field trip, flies to every school trip?
And they act like they know all the kids and the “kids just love” them.

It’s almost like they are reliving their youth

No I am very thankful for them!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my gosh, OP. That is such a sour view. What’s going on?

Thank you to all the volunteers. They help all children.

Do they?

Are you a volunteer?

At our school, the seniors got service awards if the parents were big volunteers. So it paid off.