The Story of Why I Was Somehow Happy to Become a PTA Officer Even Though Everyone Else Turned It Down

*Word count of this article: approx. 1300 characters*

"It's fun. Won't you do it with me?"
When I was invited like that,
"It's fun, huh? Well then, maybe I will."
I gave an easy answer.

I ended up becoming a high school PTA officer.

Looking back, I have never agreed to something so easily before.

"Let's do it together once they enter school."
The person who said that to me was a veteran mom whose son was two years ahead of my eldest son.

Our elementary and junior high school districts were the same.
Although I had heard rumors about her being "well-informed," since last year our workplaces became close, and we started chatting more than before.

She is well-informed and a natural-born caretaker.

When she found out that my eldest son's first-choice high school was the same one her son attended, she told me all sorts of things.

Things like what the school is like, about the uniforms, and school events—even things I hadn't asked about (lol).

And then, he passed the exam safely.
She invited me again, asking, "Won't you do it?"

"Try inviting some other moms from the same junior high school too!"
she added.

It certainly sounded fun if I could do it with friends!
I thought that and tried asking around, but it was a total wipeout.
I was completely turned down.

It looks like a lot of work.
I don't have the confidence to do it.
I have a job, so it's impossible.
I want to take it easy.

Well, of course they would.
I totally understand those feelings too!

Well then, for now, I'll just do what I can.
That was the mindset I had.

Until the entrance ceremony.

I was surprised during the introduction of guests.

The woman who invited me was seated as the vice president.
She gave a solid greeting to the new students and their parents.

At that moment, in the gymnasium, I was probably the only one staring at her intently.

To be brutally honest about my thoughts:
Huh?
Am I going to do that?
No way!!

It's not even my alma mater.
Even though it's in the same city, I don't know anything about the area around the high school.
I don't know anything, so I started to get anxious about whether it would be okay.

But after one night passed, I returned to the feeling of "If it's fun, I'll do it."

What is this?

This is the first time I've felt this way about myself.

But surely,
if I returned to reality and really didn't want to do it, that feeling would gradually grow.

I might just keep thinking about how to turn it down.

But that's not the case right now.
Surely this is just the excitement before encountering something new.

In a place where there is someone I can trust, I found a version of myself that could jump over fear and responsibility and say "Sure!" without thinking.

That made me unreasonably happy.

Is it really this light?

What was I doing, hesitating and wavering back and forth until now?

Wasn't I afraid of uncertainty?

Even so, well, anyway, let's give it a try.

This spring, I want to start with that kind of lightness.

This time, I wrote about the April topic I received from Kaze no Boushi-san's membership,
the 'Garden of Words',
'A small challenge to start in the new fiscal year'.

After I finished writing, I suddenly realized something.

Come to think of it, when I was able to take the step toward Kindle publishing,
there was someone who opened their arms and said, 'It's okay, you can jump!'
I was able to jump because Kaze no Boushi-san was there.

This PTA experience was the same.

Because there is someone I can trust ahead of me, I can take a step forward with surprising lightness.

It feels like fear and anxiety are not in the center, but off to the side.

I can look only at the center and move forward.

Ah.
I, too.

'Come on!'
I want to keep my arms open like that.

Added on April 14, 2026
Thank you so much for reading! 😊