What I've Learned From My Son - 8

#8 Relish your achievements.

I was in the kitchen washing dishes while my son was entertaining himself by playing with Brooklyn's huge dog food canister. There wasn't any dog food in the canister for him to reach and put in his mouth - believe me, I've already gone through the panic of fishing around in his mouth to extract a dog kibble before he swallowed it and choked. I would alternate between concentrating on the dishes and peeking at him to make sure all was well in his world. At first glance, I saw him with his extended arm reaching in the dog food canister. I went back to washing. At second glance, with his arm still in the canister, he had the scoop that rests in the canister and was "air scooping" food. I went back to washing. At third glance, he had his arm out of the canister, the scoop in his hand, and he was sitting on the floor next to the canister. Again, I went back to washing. At the fourth and final glance, he dropped the scoop back into the canister and once it was back in its proper place, he started to clap his little hands and say to himself, "Yay!" I am not sure what he had set out to do exactly, but clearly he accomplished it and was happy with himself, so much so that the moment warranted self-congratulation. And why not?! How much better would we feel about ourselves, how much better perspective would we gain about the important things in life, if we gave ourselves a little credit for all the things, big and small, that we accomplish on a daily basis? I'm not suggesting that we boast or brag, but we could just take a personal moment to acknowledge and feel good about what we do get done, rather than fixate on what still needs to be done. Imagine how much more momentum that would give us to tackle all the various goals we set for ourselves. Okay, so I still can't speak a second language fluently, I still can't play the bass or drums like a professional, I still have a pile of books I want to read, I have loads of laundry that need to be done, I have boxes that need to be unpacked, I have papers that need to be shredded, and the list goes on. But on the daily, I feed, clothe, teach, entertain, comfort, cuddle and care for my son, I care for my husband, I keep track of my and my husband's schedules, I schedule babysitting, I pay bills and monitor the house finances, I research and find new activities for me and my son, I walk the dog when my husband can't, I cook meals, I read books, I recently picked up some long-forgotten knitting, I work a very physical job, I blog, and this list also goes on. There will always be things to do, but more importantly, there are always things we accomplish. And that does call for some self-congratulation. In a word: Yay! (sound of thunderous applause by me).