Shared Victories

I was thinking about my week trying to decide on a good topic for this "Bigger Picture" post. I thought about how our molars are coming in and how that has made this a week of less sleep for all of us. I thought about how we have learned new words like "batteries" and to say funny phrases like "C'mon guys" when bringing stuffed friends upstairs to play. Or how just this week we have mastered the sippy cup. (Prior to this week, our only sippy cups used straws and the idea of tipping a non-strawed cup backwards to drink was completely foreign. But now, we are proud sippy cup spout users!)

Suddenly I realized that everything is a "we". All of our challenges and all of our victories are "we" moments. Admittedly, when Ben's teeth are cutting through and keeping him up, he feels the pain more than we do. But we are right there with him, holding him, rocking him, dosing him with Motrin. The next morning when he is dazed from a lack of sleep, we are in the same boat. When he is trying to accomplish something that he doesn't yet have the motor skills for, we also experience feelings of frustration. When Ben learns a new word or masters a new skill, the victory is his but the elation is shared by all.

 Parenting, like marriage, is a team sport. Nothing takes some of the frustration out of a struggle like when you realize you are not struggling alone. Just as nothing seems to multiply the joy of an accomplishment quite like sharing it with others. It's a great team to be on.


For more "Bigger Picture Moments" click here.