Small Victories

As a mother to a seven month old, I've found that you have to celebrate these. Actually as a mother period you have to celebrate small victories, or you just may lose hope in your parenting abilities. My small victory is regarding my son's sleeping habits. Many times I want to kick myself, (especially) when I hear people say, "Oh my child sleeps straight through the night." Although, I'm usually thinking to myself, "Uh, so do you want a cookie?" I mean, must you rub it in while the other 90% of babies aren't sleeping through the night.

Consequently, my baby obviously doesn't sleep through the night, but I'm remind that we still have lots of small victories in this area to be thankful for. For example, at least he doesn't require a late night bottle anymore. Whoa hoo! No more standing at the bottle warmer at 2, 3, or 4am for us. He is happy with a last daily bottle around 11pm and doesn't desire another until he wakes in the morning around 7 or 8am. I've also finally broke him of being rocked to sleep. So yes, he still wakes up but for the most part if I put him on my shoulder or lay him next to me, he goes right back to sleep; and to top it off, he may only wake up once or twice a night. Yes, I'm aware that this is NOT sleeping through the night. Trust me, the bags under my eyes and lack of memory remind me of this mere fact daily. But I'm also very aware it could ALWAYS be worse and more than anything we ARE making progress! So to all the other moms out there, don't kick yourself when that other mom is bragging about her child sleeping through the night, potty training in days, eating cereal with a spoon on the first try, or whatever it may be. Focus on where you and your child were and where you are now, and I'm sure you'll find there is something to celebrate! What are your small parenting victories?