Volunteer

I volunteered to be PTO President for my children’s Elementary and Middle School.  If you know me, you know I do not need another project.  But my reasons are self-serving.

Last year I asked my 13-year-old son what he liked about his new girlfriend.  He said, “Mommy you know what I like about Mia?  She is the first girl that doesn’t talk about suicide.  Most girls talk about suicide and I know it’s for attention.”  His answer jolted me.  It woke me up to the reality of growing up in our world today.

Several months later, I found out an 8th grader attempted suicide.  An 8th grader.  When I mentioned this to my friend who works in the ER, she told me that she sees suicide attempts weekly in her ER.  What we hear on the news is when they are successful.  It never occurred to me about the attempted suicides.  My heart hurts thinking about it.

Whether or not a child is talking about suicide for attention or they are really serious, it doesn’t matter.  Bottom line is that they are hurting and are seeking attention.

And many of our children are hurting.

It’s overwhelming, especially with all that is happening in our world today.  And sometimes I feel helpless.  How do I make a difference when so many are hurting?  Not just kids, but adults too.

While I don’t have all the answers, I do know what I can do today.  For my community.  For the our kids.  For my kids.  I volunteer.  Volunteering allows me to be around the kids, other parents, teachers and administrators to see what is going on.  I want to see what kind of issues are happening, how they are being addressed and most importantly, what we can do as a community to support them.

Because we got to stick together.  For our kids.

This morning, my daughter woke up and talked happily about how much fun she had at the pumpkin patch and the trunk or treat event at the school yesterday.  I loved that we made those memories together.  But most importantly, I loved that she talked to me about it.