I don’t normally rant here, but today I’m making an exception.

If people can go on Facebook rants for all kinds of crazy things, I can rant on my own blog. The other morning on a local radio station, one of the hosts ranted about her husband’s ex who kept friending and unfriending her on Facebook. Okay, I guess that’s important. But I can go one better!

This story started last Wednesday night. I was beyond tired after a day of work, grocery shopping, kid wrangling, and lunch making. The day just kept on giving because we had Bingo night at Jessa’s school that evening. Of course, this event fell on the same night that Lamar had a three-hour meeting after work. I had already told Jessa we would go.

I loaded the girls into the car and we headed to Chick-fil-A to get a bingo-essential dinner. Can you really play bingo well without Chick-fil-A?

As we were pulling into Jessa’s school, I tried to ignore the nervous feeling in my stomach. I normally don’t do this—solo outings with both girls for scheduled events. It can be challenging because Juliana might sit for small amounts of time and then she’s ready to move on or get into something. When we are out as a family, I keep Juliana occupied and settled while Lamar hangs with Jessa.

“We’re staying 45 minutes,” I announced to Jessa as we got out of the car. I whispered a little prayer and braced myself for the worse.

The worse never came.

Once inside, I quickly got the girls seated and prepped their meals. Juliana’s hands were kept to herself. There was no attack on the waffle fries or my eyeglasses that usually occurs. Who is this kid? I wondered.

Jessa busied herself with her food and focused on the game as Bingo started. I glanced at Juliana on my right. Smiles. Patience. Again, I thought, when is the meltdown coming?

Dinner passed, so I pulled out the iPad so Juliana could watch her favorite movie. And guess what she did? She sat and watched her favorite movie. I was still in awe, and the night continued like this with her smiling and even playing with the Chick-Fila cow.

This same type of behavior happened at dinner the other night. When we were seated to eat, I placed Juliana’s food in front of her and said, “Okay, eat one chip.” And that’s what she did. She ate one tortilla chip and didn’t try to frantically grab and stuff food which is usually her preferred action.

“Get out your phone,” I told Lamar. “Take a picture and send it to Mrs. Fagan.”

The text read: Happy Sunday. It’s Sabrina. Just wanted to tell you thank you for being such an amazing teacher. We are at dinner and Juliana’s table manners are so impressive. She is sitting with her own basket of chips. Eating them one at a time. This is HUGE!

All these actions that I am describing might seem like nothing but I cannot begin to tell you how huge they are. In this post, I describe how we plan and prep for outings. Juliana doesn’t like being still for very long and patient is not a word you would use to describe her.

There’s some funny business at play here!

Someone is making my kid behave and have good table manners!

Someone is teaching Juliana patience and how to focus!

Yes, of course we work on these things at home; we’re supposed to.

But someone outside of our house is influencing our kid! 

That night when we got home, I wondered about all the changes. I think it’s her teacher!  And her school too!

Juliana’s teacher is a person who wears a smile and writes me helpful progress reports each day. We collaborate on things to make Juliana’s school days better. The teaching assistant in Juliana’s class never complains about having to take Juliana to potty or clean her up when there is a potty accident. They are really working hard with Juliana to keep her hands to herself and exercise patience when she is eating.

To top all this off, there is a team of support staff and therapists who keep us informed and really work to stay on task for Juliana’s Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) goals. They take good care of her and help her thrive.

Can you believe this?

A group of people doing their jobs! A group of people who care enough about my kid to keep her on track?

This is CRAZY!

We live in a culture where there is so much to complain about. When our kids don’t do well, often the finger and blame are pointed to the teacher and school. I think if we’re going to rant about all the things that are wrong, we should just as easily rant about the things that are right.

This rant and post have gone long, but I won’t apologize since Facebook ranters don’t.

I hope you will follow my lead. If there is something good going on or someone in your life doing good–RANT! Please!

When you do, be sure to do it right, BE HAPPY about it, and make it count!