A few weeks ago my husband and I went to our son, Mr. L’s last elementary school IEP and I gotta say that we were both pleasantly surprised. It was actually one of the easier IEP’s (Individualized Education program) meetings we have been to.

I requested that our son be there for the first half of the meeting, because as he gets older I’m hoping that he will want to have a say in what happens at these meetings. Mr. L has been going to these meetings for about a year and a half now and already he seems unruffled by them.

But why did this meeting go so well? You might think that because this was a transitional meeting with staff from the middle school present that as parents we might feel stressed at all the new stuff coming our way. But no, I’m used to change by now. After 11 moves in 12 years and bouncing through a few different school districts, the fact that we are just changing schools and not entire state lines probably had a little to do with it.

Honestly though, even though we had to figure out new routines, schedules, therapies, etc. That stuff is sorta old hat. The thing that made this IEP pleasant was that there were no “negative behaviors” to address. It was great. Is my kid magic? No. Is he all sunshine and rainbows? Nah, he’s human. But his staff gets him and that sometimes is all a special needs kid needs in order to succeed. Finding that balance of stretching, growing, and learning without triggering, stressing, and irritating is the magic.

I truly appreciate that my son’s middle school teacher next year seems to want to keep this positive momentum, because she has been in contact with my son’s current special education teacher and they have been working together on how to make this transition as seamless as possible- including some summer visits to the new classroom.

I’ll admit it was weird to register MY kid for middle school, and then to also register his little sister (my baby) for kindergarten. But it’s a good thing. Progress is good, growth is good, and honesty isn’t this the point of good parenting? To help your kid grow, learn, succeed and become a good and happy adult? I’m supposed to work myself out of this job, and small steps turn into big change.

I’m not blind though, this is still middle school and my kid is becoming a preteen. My middle child is inching closer and closer to leaving his elementary education behind and I can only imagine what kindergarten drama Little Miss A will have in store for me.

But for now I will take the wins. Another IEP has been signed and put in the books, another public school year has been survived, my baby graduated from preschool with a big ol’ grin on her face, and all three kiddos seem to be loving summer camp.

Let’s see what summer has in store for us ☀️