Parenting Tip: Celebrate Your Small Victories
Your big victories are obvious. They may even be memorialized.
But they don't come everyday.
Parenting is really hard work and I think it is important for our emotional and spiritual well-being to celebrate ourselves often. Without developing an inflated ego. It is perfectly healthy to recognize that you got through another day loving well.
My dad-life is marked by a trail of dirty diapers.
For a majority of the last three years, I have had three kids in diapers at the same time. That's what happens when you have twins sandwiched between two other closely-born siblings. Recently, a coveted diaper brand had a BOGO sale. I seized the opportunity by buying over 1,500 diapers.
I tell you all of this to give you some context for some important advice that I received early on. This wise empty-nester was over just to come help out and listen to us talk about how difficult parenting is (as if we were the first to ever bring new life into the world). She listened patiently and then said "You really don't need to be so hard on yourselves. You're doing the best you can. One way I use to measure success was to ask myself 'did I end the day with less diapers on the floor than when the day began?'"
So here's to you parents. You made it another day. Please take the time to celebrate your victories, no matter how small they may seem.
Image Sources: Diaper Mountain, Quick Maffs, Leo Toast
Reading this has put a few things in perspective about life's paradoxes. With my youngest being 10, I look back at the diaper days with fondness. Cherish them, they don't hang around for that long!
Always a good reminder. It is crazy for me to realize that I already have two out of diapers. Wow. I know I sound like my parents now, but seriously, when did that happen?! It is a pretty great time when they truly depend on you for just about everything. I had the privilege to take 6 weeks off of work when our newest was born in November and it was an amazing period to be able to spend all that time with them.
Makes me think about how I can't wait to be a dad someday. At least five kids I thought, maybe I need to reevaluate haha.
Haha. I come from a big family (one of seven), so the idea of having a lot of kids always seemed natural. Everyone's situation is different, but I definitely love having such a full house. The nice thing about kids is that you work way up and generally only get one at a time. Lol. This gives you time to adjust.
I didn’t have quite as many diapers as you (just two kids, 2 1/2 years apart, but man can I relate to the non-sustainability of cloth diapers. My wife and I were all about the cloth thing, and really gave it an honest effort, but they simply do not work! It’s actually funny to think back on now. My mother in law, who was our day care provider for a while, was more tenacious. I ended up hiding the cloth diapers, but she would find them, but of course the poo-pocolypse wouldn’t happen until the kid was back in my care!
That's hilarious. We had a very similar experience; my mother-in-law was all about it. It worked for a while, but once they really get mobile and start eating things other than breast milk, it pretty crazy. Also, the laundry. We are buried in laundry as-is. I couldn't imagine having to throw in an extra load every day or so just of diapers.