Getting big

My three-year old has had a big few weeks. He’s gone from screaming every time he looked at a toilet to going through the night accident free. He’s hit the magic weight where he can switch from a car chair to a booster seat.  He’s also moved from his balance bike to a real pedal bike. It’s no wonder that he now tells everyone he meets that he’s big.

It’s really fun for me as a parent to celebrate these kinds of things with him.  After all, I’ve changed his diaper a thousand times. Diaper-free looks good to me too. And I hate car seats. They might be the most annoying part of modern parenthood. I’m thrilled to be able to put ours in the garage and forget about it.

It’s also fun because it reminds me of the many things that I let pass in my own life that are worth celebrating but that the busyness of the adult world tends to pass over.  I transplanted Mayapple plants today. Yesterday I helped our local library publish an anthology for their teen writing contest.  This past week I completed the first draft of a book of poetry I’ve been working on for some time.

Our lives are full of these sorts of accomplishments, and so are the lives of our spouses and our kids.  It’s worth taking time to celebrate them, to enjoy them.  We may be a bit old to go around telling everyone that we’re big, but it’s good to celebrate the accomplishments of our families, to praise each other, encourage each other.  So take the time to notice and celebrate your family’s achievements, however big or small they might be.