celebrating more simpler joys tonight...

If my daughter ever finds this entry by the time she is able to read, or by the time she's hit the "every day is drama, drama, drama" stage of puberty, there is a good chance she'll be incredibly embarrassed by it. The topic of potty training probably isn't one that too many people (parent or not) would appreciate; but well, without going too far into it, I have much to celebrate tonight, and feel compelled to blog about it:

It was our official start to potty training in our household today. And, after 5 misses (4 #1s and 1 #2), which included 4.5 changes of pants and undies, many tears shed (from both parents and child), and frustrations galore; our success finally took form in not just one, but TWO drops of pee in our daughter's potty. Amazing, right?

As her loving mother, I couldn't be any more proud of my daughter's accomplishment.

Hours were spent chasing her down while absolutely refusing to put her pants back on. My patience was tested multiple times with screams of "NO, I WILL NOT USE THE POTTY, MOMMY!" To top it off, my heart would break continuously with every spontaneous burst of tears from wetting her pants, as if each time was the end of the world for my daughter.

And yet, all of that just burst into confetti the moment she finally succeeded. The smile that formed on her face exuded so much joy and delight, that it was more than enough to erase all of the frustration and struggle that led up to that very moment. As far as she was concerned, she had conquered the world. Nothing else mattered except for those two wonderful drops in her potty.

Her father and I celebrate with much jubilation tonight - not just because we've made some progress, but because moments like these are what make parenthood worthwhile.

And really, simple joys like this are far too precious for us to take for granted.