You Know Your a Difficult Parent When.......

Back to school can also mean back to IEP (Individualized Education Programs) meetings with the school district for many parents with special needs children.  I already have 2 scheduled for the end of next month.

I was talking to a friend this morning who was on her way to her child's meeting. We were discussing ways to say things and later I got to thinking, "am I a difficult parent?" One of my child's teacher left our school district over the summer so my daughter started school with a brand new teacher who I haven't met yet.

The paranoia in me started to flow; "I wonder what Miss X told Miss Y about me?" Exchanges from IEP meetings past started flowing into my mind and then I was faced with the possibility that this particular teacher may have thought I, little old me, was difficult. I am older (and hopefully wiser) now and I can see where and upcoming meeting with me may have been something to avoid.

For the podcast; Are you a difficult parent? I discussed one person's opinion from a blog I read in my search on what makes a parent difficult. I didn't necessarily agree with her reasoning, I thought the author was a little heavy on the parents. I apologize for the sound during the broadcast.

Not wanting to revisit what was covered on the show, I decided to make my own list of how to tell if your a difficult parent from a humorous point of view.

You Know Your a Difficult Parent When;

- school security comes to greet you at the door

- your child's teacher ask to record all your phone calls

- other teachers and staff who don't know your child, know you

- your IEP meetings are scheduled off school property

- the phrase "calm down" is used more than once

and last but not least

-your child's teacher moves out of the district over the summer to avoid dealing with you!

That's my little list, hope it made you laugh and I hope it made you think.

Seriously, I stand behind parents whole heartily when it comes to dealing with school personnel.  I know just how tough it can be to constantly request the things your child needs and be ignored, dismissed and condescended to. Every once in awhile, you do need to put the niceness aside and get real in order to get your point across.  The key is not to do too often and to make it count when you do it.

The key thing to remember is the people sitting across the table from you are human, they deal with the same seven deadly sins we all do; greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. I try to give teachers as much respect as possible and I always reward effort, even if the results are little to none. A willing party who is willing to think out of the box is the most important characteristic in a special education teacher.

But that's just my opinion, tell me; one are you a difficult parent and two, what do you like to see in your child's teacher?

Comment and a Lisa Frank unicorn will knock on your door tonight.

Doesn't get any better than that, does it?