Classroom mother??? What do they do?

[It's A Happy Day]

My son is in kindergarten this year and they just asked for people to volunteer to be room parents/mothers. I put my name into the hat because I definitely want to be involved in his class when ever possible. Last year in preschool I opted not to help out in the classroom because I wanted him to separate himself from home. I received a notice yesterday saying that they picked 2 people & I am one of the room mothers for his class. What exactly does a room mother do?
I was provided a list of all the students and parents names with phone numbers and a short notice giving me the holidays that they have parties for - Halloween being the 1st. And the note said that the 2 room parents have to contact people to help out with goodies, paper goods, etc. So I have a vague idea but this is the 1st kid in school so any helpful insight would be appreciated.

 

[RitaZ.]

That's pretty much what you do. Contact the parents and ask for donations for the various parties. Also, the teacher will need help the day of the party, so you'll probably need to be there. You should prepare yourself in the event that the other parents don't send in the items needed. In which case, you or the other mom will have to buy them.

When I was room parent, I would take the list of items and divide it by the number of parents. I tried to be as equitable as possible. You'll have parents that want to send in more than you need, you'll also have 1 or 2 that may not return your calls. Your child will love having you there during the parties, I know mine did.

Have fun!