Room mom. Team mom. 3rd Grade Coach. 📚🏈😅

Tips and tricks for managing a million moving parts in any (or all) of these roles.

Alternative title: So I Overcommitted. 😂

Before we dive in, let me back up. At ages 13, 9, and 9, I think my kids have fully transitioned into the ✨ big kid  ✨ stage (hold me).

You know how I know? Everyone is getting so stinking tall. Plus more and more, I have the sneaking suspicion that my primary role as a parent might have transformed into . . . Unpaid Uber Driver. (My kids jokingly tell me how many stars I’m receiving when they exit the vehicle each day).

For years I’ve sat down on Sundays to grab my Simplified Planner and plan for the week ahead. And with each year that passes, the more I notice my kids’ activities taking center stage. On any given week I’m navigating how to get everyone dressed and shuttled (with all the correct gear, and shoes, and snacks, and forms signed) to tackle football practice, competitive cheer tournaments, soccer games, robotics club, class parties, field trips, and more. And that’s on top of school. On top of work. On top of social and family activities.

😅

Oh, did I mention that somehow I volunteered to be a third grade room mom, a football team mom, and a soccer coach for a team of nine-year-olds? (Looking at you, Jane 👀 — [my BFF, Jane, and I talked each other into 2/3 of these]). Side note: do things w your bestie. It makes it way more fun!

😵‍💫🥵😅

So, to start — let’s talk about how I have a hard time saying no to things I genuinely enjoy. I love helping / leading these things. My mom was a teacher for 38 years so I know how important and helpful these roles can be. But… small plate + too many things (even good ones) = you know how it goes.

I know many of you find yourselves in the same boat of busy, even if your week isn’t kid-focused like mine. Whether you’re the head of a project at work, lead a small group at church, or coordinate volunteers at your local animal shelter, putting the “organizing the flow of information and people participating in a thing” hat on top of the-hats-you-already-wear adds, you know… basically a part-time job to your already-packed schedule. (And tbh, it’s partly why I wrote a post about my favorite stupid easy dinners and a love letter to assembly meals).

Here’s the thing: wrangling people and details isn’t easy, especially when you’re working alongside other busy people who have different capacities to help / different ideas on how to get things done.

That’s true when you’re a parent. That’s true when you’re a teacher, coach, or leader in any capacity.

Since I’ve now been on both sides of this equation, I have so much empathy for everybody here: teachers, parents, coaches, all of us. What I’ve learned is that we’re each being pulled in a million directions at once. But looking at the situation with my parent hat on, there are many ways can be helpful to the leaders around us. When we pitch in to help with our kid’s team or classroom, we’re not only freeing up our kid’s leader to do their job well, but we also arrive at our ultimate parenting goal a little more quickly: helping our kids learn confidence and character through participating in school and team activities.

A happy bonus that happens at the same time? The admin that comes with all those activities—the flow of information, the signing of permission forms, the coordination of ordering and purchase team uniforms and gear—that admin gets done a bit more quickly, which means we get on with our days a bit more quickly, too.

I bet that’s probably your goal as well. In that case, here’s what I’d recommend to help ease the mental load of your kid’s leaders—and, consequently, your own.