I was hanging out with a friend recently and we recapped all the things we did last year. Admittedly, I found myself stunned at how little (on paper at least) I could say I accomplished in 2025. The many tasks, duties and daily wins were seemingly too insignificant for me to account for. The only accomplishment I could claim was simply: “The kids are growing and happy.”
It All Matters
That conversation played in my mind several times over the past week or so as I sought to reconcile the simple truth that I felt like I did more in 2025 than perhaps any year prior. I hadn’t graduated, done much traveling, started a new job, overcome anything significant, but had simply completed 365 days of taking care of two kiddos with my wife.
All last year, the many daily things included: Getting the kids dressed, brushing their teeth, getting them fed, giving them attention, playing with them, singing with them, reading to them, answering their questions, getting them naps, putting them in carseats, showing them animals at the zoo, taking them to the doctors, helping them to make friends, helping them up when they fell, going to the park, bathing them, kissing them goodnight – the list goes on and on and on.
So the big question burning in my mind was why did everything feel insignificant?
I’ve arrived at this conclusion: It’s the little unnoticed things parents do everyday that greatly impact who our children are becoming. I think parenting in many ways is composed of doing a lot (A LOT) of little seemingly insignificant daily tasks and routines – and not one of them is unimportant. I mean, making sure that they don’t fall down the stairs or remembering to buckle them into their carseats have serious stakes, but I truly feel that everything we do as parents for and with our kids matters. Caring about who our kids are becoming gives us a huge why to everything we do in relation to our kiddos.
We’re barely into 2026 and there’s already been a few accomplishments for our family worth noting. Our oldest daughter — who will be 3 in March — is now toilet trained! WOW. We decided to give toilet training a shot on a weekend where we didn’t have a ton going on and phew, I’m so glad that’s all behind us.
Our daughter did amazing. She was confused, flustered and completely out of her element as we decided to go with the “no diapers, no pants” method and she didn’t really have any accidents, but she also didn’t immediately “get it” either. It took half a day Friday, all day Saturday and, to our amazement, when she woke up from her afternoon nap on Sunday, it clicked! This was a huge milestone for my wife and I as we feel like we’ve graduated into a new realm of parenting her. It feels like she’s no longer a toddler and much more like a little kid – crazy.
I’ll never forget the pure joy on my girl’s face upon going wee-wee in her little Elmo potty. That’s an all-time great parenting moment for my wife and I. As with anything else our daughter has learned — like putting herself down to sleep or using a fork (still working on that one) — we take joy in knowing that we’re helping her to grow lifelong habits. So, it might not look like we’ve done a whole lot, but with every day that passes and every little bit that they grow, we’re filled with a deep joy and love for these little humans.
Every diaper, every much needed, “No,” every kiss goodnight – anything that helps our kids become who they are meant to be, matters. Even if the world can’t see it. It All Matters.
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