<p>For those of you with kids in greek organizations, are Mother’s Clubs common these days?
As an old high school sports Mom, I was used to taking an active role in booster clubs and such…but I guess I thought I was done with that now that my son is off to college. Especially since taking an active role in this particular club sometimes involves driving four hours to campus! Is this unusual…or am I just clueless about this stuff?</p>
<p>What do the mothers in the Mothers Club do once they get to campus?</p>
<p>clean the frat house?</p>
<p>My hubby was in a frat way back in the day… never heard of a Mother’s Club. Don’t know if that is a new thing, though.</p>
<p>My daughter’s sorority has a Mother’s Club. They make a home cooked meal for the night before finals, and they decorate the house for Christmas and they collect money to donate household items, like last year it was a fancy TV and Tivo. I’m a bit confused by all this, as most the girls aren’t within an hour or so from home, so the mom’s are from far away. I’m not quite sure if they hire someone local to do all this, or if some fly in and do this stuff or what. I’m waiting for my letter…(She’s just pledged…)</p>
<p>First of all. congrats to UCDAlum82, her daughter, and the GLO of which she is a member!!! I hope your D enjoys her lifelong membership during her 4 years as an active and her many years as an alumna.</p>
<hr>
<p>Depending on where the college is located, there may or may not be an alumni/ae presence for the particular chapter. Having Mothers’ Clubs are a way for parents to see the benefits of Greek Life first hand and once again to get involved.</p>
<p>There was a sister from my chapter whose mother made customized white chocolate designs for Pref Night every recruitment for each PNM. She actually made chocolate lollipops that incorporated our colors and our symbols. Another couple of moms helped sew the costumes for our Greek Sing.</p>
<p>As a GLO alumna, I advise my own group’s nearby undergraduate chapter. I also help with my daughter’s organization if and when they need me.</p>
<p>It’s not a one-way street of parents having to do everything for their kids’ GLOs. Mother-Daughter Teas, Father-Daughter Brunches are very typical events.</p>
<p>mafool - the first is a on-site home-cooked dinner (by the Mom’s) prior to an upcoming holiday. No cleaning that I’ve heard of. Sending coordinated care packages is also on the list.<br>
UCD Alum and Motherdear - thanks for the info.
Apparently this club hasn’t been in place for decades and is just getting started again. Alumni at my son’s chapter are very active.
I’m inclined to join and help as I can (but will not travel). My husband thinks it’s over the top.</p>
<p>Sounds helicopterish to me. I suppose if you WANT to be involved, the distance is not too great, and you don’t have other children in HS that you are still running around mothering, it could be ok.</p>
<p>But not me, thanks.</p>
<p>My D’s intercollegiate athletic team has moms who set up care packages and Halloween goody bags. The parents who couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to attend competitions sent food or some money to contribute to the purchase of treats. I know her school’s lax team parents put on major tailgate feasts/BBQs following every one of their games, both home and away.</p>
<p>well, hmmm, sounds like elementary school roomparentish to me, but whatever floats your boat</p>
<p>why get involved to that degree? that i don’t get- these aren’t 6th graders, they are supposed to be young adults leading adult lives </p>
<p>sure, I send care packages, send my D some new undies or socks, but that is often just practical, I see a sale on stuff she needs…</p>
<p>But to have this corridinated mommy group to buy presents for the house and organize care packages en masse, eh</p>
<p>While I am not familiar with a Mother’s Club, I think if a greek organization or sports team has one and the students are in favor, I say go for it. As far as sororities, I see it as a nice way to bond with your daughter and her sister’s. I am 50 and my mother will still buy things for my house or make soup and send a carton to me. I don’t think she is being a helicopter mom, I think she is just showing her love!!</p>
<p>Remember, your child will always be your child; it doesn’t matter if they are 6 or 60!!</p>
<p>that is different than a bunch of mommies getting together and organizing and preparing things on a consistent basis</p>
<p>My mom still buys me presents, I send stuff to my D and buy things for her sis, but I think I am past the age where i want to call other moms in her dorm and coordinate buying TVs and making color coordinated lollipops</p>
<p>As I said to each her own, but for me, i would feel like I was going back in time to being a roomparent…</p>
<p>My sister and brother-in-law attend a team picnic for my nephew’s college sports team each year near the beginning of the season. Each family is asked to bring something for the meal. It seemed a little strange to me when I heard of it, primarily because my kids schools both have a student body drawn from acroos the whole U.S. and around the world, so such an event would not be feasible at their schools. In contrast, most of my nephew’s teammates live within a reasonable drive of the college. So I guess if the students and parents enjoy it, and most are close enough to attend, no harm done.</p>
<p>i see a difference between a family bbq or potluck and a mother’s club for frats or sororities</p>
<p>what does the Op expect to do?</p>
<p>at some point we need to back away</p>
<p>CGM, I think this is one of those, “Live and let live” things. Some parents still enjoy being involved in their kids’ extracurricular activities in college. I don’t see how that hurts anyone. In fact, I think it’s a nice way to get to know the friends of one’s child. That said, I don’t think I’d go that far, but then no one is asking me to. We visit our son’s campus maybe once during the quarter and that’s enough for us.</p>
<p>Years ago, my mom joined the ‘mother’s club’ when my brother joined a fraternity at his in-state public. I think all moms were automatically members and it was left to each to figure out how much they wanted to participate. From what I remember, it was primarily a social group, meeting for lunch or in the evenings a couple of times a year in various locations around the state. Their major focus was supporting the fraternity chapter’s designated philanthropy with their own low-key fundraisers. When the university had a ‘moms weekend’ in the spring, the moms group would have their big meeting of the year and also make a small gift to the fraternity, like a picture for the living room or new utensils for the kitchen. Twenty years later my mom still vacations with good friends from the group. So, my take is that even now in this age of supposedly over-involved parents, such an organization could be something nice for the moms and not helicoptering (is that a new verb, lol.)</p>