The Milestones That Matter

My son woke up in the middle of the night the other night and went to the bathroom all by himself.

Mundane to many, I am sure, but he just turned five and this was the first time he did it by himself, without calling out to us from bed to come and help him.

As parents we often mark the passage of time and the growth of our kids by milestones like birthdays and anniversaries and the beginning of the school year but in that middle of the night minute, when I was bleary-eyed and heard the toilet flush without the usual “mama” cry that precedes it…I realized it’s the every day moments that mark so much more.

The first time my daughter said she didn’t need to hold my hand crossing the street. The first time they order off the adult menu. The first time they don’t look back for you at school drop off…or don’t rush to you at pick up, opting to chit chat with friends instead. The first sleepover. The first time they fill their own water glass without spilling a drop. Toast their own bagel. Cut with a knife.

The every day moments that remind us they are growing and maturing and changing and evolving. That the role we have fulfilled in the early years as parents will also evolve and change along with those moments…that we are still needed, but in a different way.

Those are the moments that are milestones. And I am going to soak them all up as they pass me by. The birthdays and the calendar years mean one thing…but those little moments. Those little moments mean so much more.