Lisa Rinna: 'My Kids' School is a Full-Time Job!'

After the constant requests for my help with bake sales, fundraising and the like, I've decided that the "Supermom" title is just not for me.

Lisa Rinna: OK, I don't know about you, but I feel like the biggest "Loser Mom" sometimes, especially when it comes to my kids' school. We go to a very progressive school -- which means a lot of parental participation. I think this is good, but also not so good. When it comes to Parent Work Day, the winter fundraiser, the fair-Friday hot lunch (which the parents cook in teams), the annual giving dinner and the multitude of other committees driving on field trips, being available basically 24/7 and working for that dang school is like a full-time job without pay. (Well, actually we pay them so our kids can go to the ultra-exclusive private progressive school.)
I am basically the Loser Mom there, because I have a job (or two or three) that takes me away from all of the school stuff. Now, mind you, we have to sign a contract each year stating that we will fulfill the following things: eight hours of the Parent Work Day, eight hours at the school fair, hot lunch or baking for hot lunch, and being on a committee (not necessarily one of your choosing). This year, because I didn't see the form for it, I was put on the hospitality committee. You have to cook and do flower arrangements for parties on this committee -- it's not something I'm very good at, let's just say!
Anywho, I do my best to fulfill these commitments. (Basically, my husband just pretends they don't exist, so it's really up to me to do it.) Plus, let's face it: I am a competitive gal! I want to do well. I want to be a GOOD MOM, especially in the eyes of the school's SUPERMOMS. I'll admit it: I want to be accepted into that special group of stay-at-homers who eat, sleep and drink that school. Don't get me wrong: They are great moms, great gals ... but just impossible to live up to! They are just too perfect. They never drop the ball, they can cook and bake and sew like professionals, and they are super organizers. They e-mail everyone and remind us of our duties -- while doing their duties! It freaks me out how they can multitask! I just always feel like the Loser Mom.
The problem is, I just can't seem to do it. I swear they all sneer at me when they see me coming, with my full hair and my makeup on from a day of filming. (I do rip my false eyelashes off in the car before I get there!) But alas, they just don't take me seriously. They know that I will try to find someone to fill in for my hot-lunch duty, or get someone to drive for me on the field trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. God knows, every time it starts going well and I'm doing it and I'm showing up and I'm driving the sandwiches to the Valley shelter (oh lord, why didn't someone tell me not to drive the big, fat 760 BMW that day, and to take the beat-up Ford instead?!), you can see I really do mean well. But in the end, I am a loner at the school, and I think I'm just going to have to accept the fact that I will never be the ROOM MOM -- nor do I ever want to be! AMEN!
The most important thing, in the end, is that my kids know I love them -- and I do my very best at all times to be the very best mom I know how to be!
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With her exotic looks, prodigious talent, infectious energy and savvy business acumen, Lisa Rinna has become one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. A native of Medford, Oregon, and a fitness fanatic, she loves outdoor activities, yoga, skiing and tennis. Lisa resides in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Harry Hamlin, and two daughters. |
Just give the school lots of money and they’ll understand your TV star lifestyle.
Amen! I work full time & as much as I would like to help 80% of it is during school hours. Plus I just dont want to spend any of my little free time helping out on the weekends/nights. My husband takes the ‘isn’t that what we pay them for’ attitude. There are times when I feel badly but for the most part I just try to remember I’m doing my best. And I’m extremely grateful for those parents who do so much more than I do (or am willing to do!)
I don’t feel the need to compete with or be “accepted” by the “supermoms” at our private school. They do their thing well, I do mine well, and it’s not a contest. Shouldn’t it be about doing whatever will benefit our children? It is astounding how many independent schools refuse to acknowledge the burdens (of time, effort and guilt) they put on mothers in particular. This wouldn’t fly at our school due to the many moms who are heavy-hitter professionals. I appreciated that our school told us up front that we would be obliged to make substantial contributions, but they could be in the form of money, time, whatever. And most of the volunteer opportunities are directly education-related, which means the school has its priorities straight. So my husband and I both do some classroom volunteering, while we also donate money. We sign up for what works for our family, without feeling like we have to be up nights baking for 500 people or something (wtf??).








I also feel that pain, ha!
I don’t mind the numerous requests from my younger daughter’s school (public, K-4)because I know funds are tight and they need extra help and money.
My older daughter goes to the most expensive private university prep school in our part of the state. Along with tuition, we pay an application fee & an enrollment fee(even for returning students), purchase all textbooks & supplies, supplies for the classrooms. We’re hit up to donate to the academic fund (meant to keep costs down, although tuition goes up every year), the sports fund,the fine arts fund.
When I get a message asking if I would like to support the cheerleaders, I think “No, let their parents pay for it.” When I get a message suggesting the parents pitch in to clean under the bleachers after football games, I think “No, how the 5 members of the full time grounds keeping crew do it.”
I could be dressed, literally from head to toe, from hat to shoes, bearing the school logo. This year, we had the pleasure of buying logo’ed drinking glasses and plates. I can also buy a yard sign advertising that my child attends the school! Yay! Window decals and magnets for my vehicles! WOO!
I would be willing to pay to have them not ask me to buy all this stuff.