30 sweet moments only parents have

Ahhh parenting, it’s one of those amazing experiences where the highs are euphoric and the lows make you want to cry in a corner and hope it was all a bad dream. Let’s take a few moments today to celebrate all the victorious moments that can only be appreciated if you’re parent to a small human or two.

1. When the furby’s batteries run out.
2. When the kids are finally asleep …
3. And there’s wine in the fridge.
4. When the babysitter puts the kids to bed instead of you.
5. When you have a night with friends and it’s like the kids don’t exist (except for when you pull out your phone and scroll through the pics of them looking insanely cute that day).
6. When you have an hour to watch TV and there’s a new episode of Nashville on Hulu.
7. When you’re out the door early!
8. When you arrive anywhere on time and not disheveled.
9. When you go out minus the kids and your handbag is miniscule.
10. When you’re having a night with the ladies and can wear white pants.
11. When you land a morning spot for your kid in nursery school.
12. When you push the stroller to a train station and find there’s an elevator.
13. When the kid eats their entire meal without a “That’s yucky!”
14. When you pick up your kid from school and their lunchbox is empty.
15. When it’s Mother’s Day or Father’s Day and the kid brings home handprint artworks from school.
16. When you wake up the next morning and everyone is in the same bed they started the night in.
17. When you wake up and it’s 8am, not 2am, or 4am or 6am, but 8am!
18. Every time you drink coffee or strong black tea and the instant rush that results.
19. When you get a pedicure and no one screams at you for an entire hour, plus you can look at your phone guilt-free the entire time.
20. The rare times when you get something right and your kid beams at you instead of scowling. Bought the right sugar-free-but-still-tasty breakfast cereal today, yay!
21. When your kid says “Thank you” and “Your welcome” in public and you feel like your job is done.
22. The one night when your kid says they’ll put themselves to bed and you can go eat your dinner.
23. When you take your kid to see a show and they stay in their seat the entire time.
24. When you get off a long haul flight and the people in front turn around to say they didn’t even know there was a kid sitting there.
25. When your kid’s teacher says they’ve had a great day and you feel like everything’s going to be A-okay.
26. When your kid stands up for another at the playground, and you think your heart is going to burst with pride.
27. When you can say without a doubt that you’re done with toilet training for good.
28. When you celebrate your birthday doing something you want to do, like getting that pedicure.
29. When your kid says they love you and you melt into a puddle.
30. When your kid outs your favourite beverage and you laugh your ass off because your kid is so awesome you just can’t stand it. “I like milk, Daddy drinks coffee and Mommy likes wine!”

This article first appeared on MommyNearest.