Parent Involvement: Where are you on the spectrum?

The parent involvement balance is something most parents struggles with when raising their children. Expert opinions on parent involvement are often hard to take if not aligned with our core beliefs about child-rearing. Quality time differs from family to family.

The question on everyone’s mind is when do you get involved and when do you stand back?

I love the line from Ferris Bueller’s day off and I quote, “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once and a while you could miss it.” I usually wonder what happened to the summer and can’t believe my kids are closer to the middle of their school year than not around this time of year.

Does anyone else feel life with children is like running a relay race, passing off one baton only to wait for the next one? I love the roller coaster and wouldn’t change it for anything but thank goodness for pictures! They capture the moments of triumph, milestones, and the passing of time.

Children vividly remember each experience from their first memories to present. Adults have a much broader memory file to account for, and for better or worse, may condense less important memories. Is this a good excuse for not remembering every detail of our past?

What memories of your own parents’ involvement are most vivid and important to you as an adult?

Personally, my parents’ involvement in academics was more impressionable on me than anything else. It wasn’t easy as a teenager having my mom wear a visor to my school graduation party. However, knowing that she was the PTO president made a lasting impression on me of the importance of parent involvement in schools. Watching my mom read on a daily basis to this day is something that has made me value the joy of reading. Having my mom check over my homework, leaving comments on my papers such as, “This did not make sense”, or circling errors for me to correct might have enraged me at the time, but it showed me she cared about the quality of work I turned into teachers.

What are your most impressionable and vivid memories of your parents’ involvement throughout childhood?

Do you remember specific dinner table conversations?

Did your family prioritize homework over extracurricular commitments and play dates? How did this have an effect on your parenting choices?

Parent involvement is never easy. Making meaningful parent involvement choices is something we all have to do.