Small victories

It's the small things in life that keep me going. Mostly, it's just ONE small thing. He's a relatively small 25-pound 1-year-old who never ceases to amaze me. (I say relatively because he's big for his age, but small enough to pick up and cuddle!)

Today's small victory: Matt learned to drink from a straw.

"That's your small victory??!!" you say, exasperated and mildly annoyed that you're reading a blog about a one-year-old learning to drink from a straw.

Hear me out.

Drinks with straws are ubiquitous in today's society; just about every eating establishment will provide a cup with a straw for a small customer. Of course, this accoutrement is useless if the child cannot use the straw.

Other parents reading this blog know how much stuff has to be packed for even a small outing with kids. When they're infants, you have to bring everything from a change of clothes (since they will inevitably make a monster poop when you're out) to bottles and formula or milk to toys to keep them occupied during the outing. As they get older, fewer and fewer items are required; however, the parent is always required to have some drinking equipment packed (e.g. bottles and formula/milk for infants or sippy cups for toddlers).

That is, the parent is always required to have some drinking equipment packed until the child learns to drink from a straw!!

This "small victory" frees me from the annoyance of packing leak-prone sippy cups in his diaper bag. In fact, it may free me from packing a diaper bag at all; a diaper and a small pack of wipes will be all that's required for short trips!! And that, my friends, might even be considered a "large victory." :-)