It’s 2 a.m., I’m Exhausted…But This Is Why I Keep Showing Up for My School

It’s 2 a.m.

I just finished editing a newsletter that we’re sending out at noon. I have some flyers to create and some prep to do for our strategic PTO planning meeting. This work all feels a little endless and chaotic on top of sports schedules, a full-time job, and the general ridiculousness that comes with raising three kids and being an adult.

I’m feeling the weight of everything—all the communications, the volunteer recruitment, the planning. So I’m taking a break now and reminding myself why I do this.

The most vivid and best memories I have from school were from elementary school. Before the world got big and the problems got bigger.

Here are some extremely specific things I remember:

• The book fair in the lobby during Thanksgiving break. My mom was a PTA mom, so I was there all day during conferences, reading Babysitters Club and flipping through weird Guinness World Records. (The picture of the guy with the longest fingernails has lived rent-free in my head for 30 years.)
• Running around with my best friend during ice cream socials—and absolutely begging my mom to bid on “Principal for a Day” during the silent auction. Never did win that.
• Sitting at a table making puppets for a talent show with a friend’s dad. I don’t remember what the puppets were for, but I do remember that during the show I wore way too much glitter and danced to the Spice Girls.

School was my safe space, and at the time, I didn’t think much of these moments. They were just things that happened. But thirty years later, they’re the memories that stuck.

When you’re a kid, the world can feel big and confusing. Sometimes things are happening around you that you don’t fully understand. Sometimes life feels out of your control.

But then there are these moments where everything feels simple again.

Moments that create little pockets of joy and safety.

Where kids can breathe.

Where they feel connected.

Where they feel like they belong.

The moments may seem small. But they add up. And somewhere in this school right now, there might be a kid who will grow up and remember them the way I remember mine.

Not the planning behind them.

Not the work that went into them.

Just the feeling that school was more than just a place...it was their place.

And when kids feel—really feel—that sense of safety and belonging at school, something shifts. School becomes more than a building they have to go to every day. It becomes a place where they are comfortable. Where they know that they are known and seen. Where they feel like they are part of something special. That they are someone special and can do the amazing things we know they are capable of.

We all create that feeling together. That sense of belonging comes from teachers who care deeply about their students. From staff who greet kids by name in the hallway. From parents who show up. From families who support one another. From a whole community that chooses, every day, to invest in our kids.

The PTO is just one piece of it.

But it’s a piece that helps create some of those moments—the ones that bring families together, the ones that fill the halls with excitement and laughter, the ones that remind kids that this school is their place.

Years from now, our kids may not remember the math lesson from last Tuesday—but if we do this right, they’ll remember how it felt to belong here.

And honestly, that’s reason enough to keep going…even at 2 a.m.

About the author

Becca Liller is a mom of three and currently serves as PTO president at Windsor Farm Elementary School, where she focuses on building strong school-family partnerships and creating inclusive opportunities so all students can participate in school activities. Becca is passionate about community leadership and believes even the smallest acts of service can have a lasting impact. When she’s not running around events, she enjoys quilting and spending time with her family.