The start of a new school year often causes stress for working moms. Between the parent sign-up lists, finding time to craft on a Tuesday afternoon and mid-day class parties, there's just not enough time. But not to worry! Working moms have unique skill sets and resources to be a great room mom. 

You prioritize. Working moms are great at finding the quickest path to what’s important. Think about all you get done on the weekends with birthday parties, soccer practice and household shopping—and the times you successfully juggled unexpected work responsibilities and still made it to daycare in time to pick up your child.

You are a team leader. Schedule time with the teacher to learn about room parent responsibilities and class activities in the coming year. Once you find out where he needs help—weekly needs, field trips, assembly days, celebrations—you can organize most of the parent and teacher outreach from home or work from your computer. It’s okay if your job prevents you from being at school helping since being the room mom means coordinating other parents to get to class and pitch in when needed.

You delegate. You coordinate and schedule meetings, employees, deadlines, events, daycare, family dinners and bath time every day. Once you’ve determined the classroom needs, invite class parents to sign up and help make the year a memorable one for all the kids. Scheduling needs and asking for help far in advance allows for most parents to be involved in their child’s school life. There are many parents that would love to help, attend, supervise, and bake once they know what’s needed. Tip: Save time! Free online sign up sheets from VolunteerSpot make it easy to ask for help. Class parents quickly choose when and how they can help on their smartphones or computers and VolunteerSpot sends automated reminders so parents keep their commitments.

You share the load. Being a room parent should be fun for everyone. You can create an online forum like a class blog, Facebook page or Pinterest page to allow other parents to contribute their ideas and help shape the classroom participation. Remember that a great leader allows others to share their ideas, too.

You make it exciting. Be fun, be silly, be creative! Nobody cares if the cookies aren’t all the same size or you got the wrong color of fuzzy thingamajigs for the class party. You’re not at work. And you’re guaranteed to smile at the mere thought of your child excited to see you involved in his classroom.

Be sure to check out VolunteerSpot’s free Room Mom Survival Guide and Pinterest boards with great ideas and tips for room moms.

VolunteerSpot is proud to save Room Moms and Teachers hundreds of hours by simplifying the task of signing up, scheduling, and reminding parents – reducing your busy work and leaving you more time to focus on what’s important. Room Moms use VolunteerSpot to coordinate weekly readers, recess and classroom helpers, holiday parties, field trips, potlucks and more! Take a tour today.