The Quiet Triumphs and Unseen Wins
There’s the version of parenting that looks like a staged photo and then there’s the one you scroll past, hoping nobody will notice you sent your kid to school wearing mismatched shoes. The moments of true victory in parenting don’t come with applause but self-satisfied silence. The truth is, the real wins aren’t tagged or even noticed outside your four walls. They happen in the small margins of chaos that no one bothers to photograph. Here are twenty parenting wins you never see on Instagram.
1. The Lunchbox That Comes Home Empty
No, it’s not the pretty bento box from Pinterest but the one that’s dented, warped, and returns home with a missing spoon. The good news is it’s empty. Every crumb gone. Somehow, they even ate the cucumbers this time. You don’t know why, and you don’t bother to ask.
2. The Smooth School Drop-Off
The day arrives when they open the door and hop out with a wave. There are no tears, no forgotten backpack, or a half-eaten banana left on the back seat. You sit in the car a second longer, half-expecting them to come running back at any moment, having forgotten something.
3. Laundry Day Where Socks Actually Match
It’s laundry day and you’ve got the dry clothes spread out ready for folding. Lo and behold you see that every sock matches. The washer didn’t eat them; the dryer didn’t spirit them away. It’s a small victory, yes, but it’s proof that somewhere in the chaos, order still exists.
4. A Toddler Nap That Lasts Past an Hour
When that golden hour spills over into two, you feel utterly blessed. You don’t waste it—or maybe you do, scrolling aimlessly, drinking coffee while it’s still warm for a change. Either way, this time is yours to do with as you please.
5. The Homework Battle That Ends in Productivity
It starts with groans and that “why do I have to learn fractions” speech. But somehow, their attitude shifts and they find their groove with the material. You stand amazed as their homework gets done in a single sitting.
6. Remembering Picture Day Before the Bus Arrives
You weren’t caught off guard this time and your child went to school looking semi-presentable. Their shirt was ironed and clean, their hair brushed. You even had time to snap your own photo of them in front of the fridge.
7. A Dinner Everyone Eats Without Negotiation
You set their plates down on the table, expecting the worst, and instead they silently begin eating. No protests or demands for substitutions, just plates scraped clean and a single, glorious moment of communal chewing. It may not have been a Michelin-star meal, but at least they ate it without protest.
National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
8. Managing a Public Meltdown Without Losing Your Cool
It’s always humiliating to have to discipline your child in public, but you kneel down, speaking softly but sternly. Maybe you’re forced to carry them out like a sack of potatoes, but you maintain your dignity in the process. Later, when you replay it in your mind, you realize you didn’t yell and you congratulate yourself for that.
9. Catching the Laundry Before It Mildews
We’ve all been in the position of discovering that forgotten load three days after the fact when it’s starting to form its own ecosystem. When you catch it in time and don’t have to rewash, it’s domestic victory in its purest form.
10. Finding the Missing Shoe in Under Five Minutes
This parental intuition is a kind of sixth sense honed by years of scavenger hunts for misplaced things. You check behind the couch on a hunch, and there it is. The day can proceed.
11. Saying No and Actually Sticking to It
They test it, of course. They bargain, plead—maybe even cry a little. You’ve caved before, but this time you stand firm. Later that night, when you’re lying in bed replaying every parental decision ever, you feel the strange satisfaction of holding to your boundaries.
12. The Sick Day That Doesn’t Derail Everything
You go to wake them up in the morning for school and that pale face greets you from the doorway. Despite the fever and the cough, you manage to juggle the work, give them some chicken noodle soup, and keep them distracted with a movie marathon. Your multitasking may not be graceful, but you pull it off.
13. The Car Ride Without Fighting
Long car rides may fill you with foreboding, but on this occasion, everyone stays quiet. You glance nervously in the rearview mirror, but your kid is just staring out the window, daydreaming. You almost want to take your hands off the wheel to snap a picture.
14. The Forgotten Permission Slip Found Just in Time
You find it at the bottom of their backpack, under a sticky granola bar wrapper. It’s wrinkled but legible. You manage to get it signed and returned ahead of the deadline even. It’s a reminder to stay on top of your child’s school paperwork.
15. A Morning Where You Don’t Yell Once
You managed to say “please” instead of “for the love of everything holy, put on your shoes.” You even managed to stay calm through spilled cereal and missing keys. The day may have started with a fire but you managed to put it out.
16. The First “Thanks, Mom” (or Dad) Without Prompting
They offer it unprompted and you freeze. You offer up a slightly delayed, “You’re welcome,” and store the emotional satisfaction away for later. It makes you feel all warm inside knowing that they have it in them to be polite.
17. Getting Through Bedtime Without the Great Toothbrush War
You tell them to get ready for bed and they brush their teeth unprompted for a full two minutes. You didn’t have to supervise every movement or repeat “spit, rinse, don’t play with the faucet” seventeen times. You didn’t realize bedtime could be this straightforward.
18. Fixing a Broken Toy
They come running to you, sobbing, holding the broken arm of their favorite action figure. You take it in your hands, and are pleased to discover you just have to push it back into the socket. Easy, peasy.
19. Remembering a Teacher’s Name at Pickup
You’ve heard your child say their teacher’s name a hundred times, but it never seems to stick for some reason. This time, however, it’s right on the tip of your tongue. You feel like a functioning adult, a rare and fleeting state.
20. Laughing at the Chaos Instead of Crying About It
Something goes awry and instead of losing your cool, you find yourself laughing. There’s a power in that laugh, a kind of surrender to circumstances outside of your control that feels like grace.
