When Ordinary Moments Feel Extraordinary

Sometimes it’s hard to be happy in the moments that are supposed to be happy.

Because what is ordinary for everyone else can feel extraordinary for you.

It’s just soccer practice.

Other parents are sitting on their phones, chatting with each other, barely watching.

Because for them, this is normal.

But for you, you’re watching every second.

Because you know how hard it was to get here.

You know that there have been times when leaving the house felt impossible. Times when activities were too overwhelming. Times when anxiety, demands, burnout, or dysregulation made something as simple as soccer feel completely out of reach.

So you’re sitting there feeling incredibly proud…

…and incredibly sad.

Because you know this moment may not always be possible.

Next week might be different.

Next month might be different.

And you know that for other families, they don’t have to wonder whether their child will be able to participate next time.

So while everyone else sees soccer practice…

you see a moment you never want to take for granted.

You see progress.

You see courage.

You see how far your child has come.

And sometimes you feel the grief, too — the grief of knowing that something that comes so naturally to other families can be something you have to celebrate as a huge achievement.

Both feelings can exist at the same time.

You can be grateful and sad.

Proud and exhausted.

Happy and grieving.

And that doesn’t make you ungrateful.

It makes you a parent who knows just how much it took to get there. ❤️