Happy Birthday Becoming Inevitable
Today is my blog's first birthday! It is also my baby's best friend's second birthday, so shoutout happy birthday to Rhea. I hope you are loving the aquarium today. April 1st, 2023, was the day that I posted my first ever blog post, and aside from just a few missteps, I have been consistent about posting here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the last year.
I've been thinking about this post for the past week, and I really struggled with what I should make it about. Should I make it resolution-focused and share new commitments for the year? I certainly have some in mind. Should I make it goal-focused and share how this year has put and kept me on the right track for a dream come true? It really has. Or should I make it a praise list and share all the beautiful things people have sent me after a post? Seriously, I read and respond to every single one, and it fills my heart with so much joy to know that I am making an impact so send away.
There's so much that I want for this blog, and this first year is just the beginning of that journey. This dream, and with it, this blog, is like my baby. Sure, they aren't as tangible as my toddler pulling on my leg, but I genuinely see them as such. Treating our dreams like children helps give us the accountability we sometimes need to show up for them on a consistent basis. I initially thought that today would be an anniversary celebration, but the more I thought about the importance of my dream and the importance of this year, I realized that a birthday party made more sense.
Thinking about my dream in this context made a first birthday celebration a lot clearer. We've had a lot of first birthday parties in the last year, and one more coming up this weekend. As much as it is exciting to celebrate our little one's first year around the sun, that first birthday is always more of a celebration of the parents making it through everything that first year brings.
It's not that parenting gets easier after the first year. It's just that we started from ground zero with absolutely no experience of what this would be like. Every year, we learn a little more. We learn about ourselves, our kids, our parenting styles, and our stress management styles. Every year, we'll face new challenges and have to figure out new solutions, but we'll also have more wins under our belt to look back on.
It's the same with dream chasing. We are never going to know everything. No matter how much we prepare or plan, there are always going to be extenuating circumstances that throw us off course. But working through a problem is easy when you've seen something like it before. Managing a sleep regression is easier (not easy) when you know that it's just developmentally when it was going to happen and the strategies that helped your kid through the last one.
I've had this dream with me for a long time, but this has been a year of significant achievement. Previously, I've worked on this dream for a focused period of time and then let life take over. But this year, I made new commitments and then actually followed through. I stayed consistent through TDYs, deployment prep, a PCS, and many moments of solo parenting. This year has given me new challenges and new successes to put under my belt.
Year two may not be easier, but I have a feeling it's going to be more fun. With my son, I have to figure out what to make for breakfast every morning, which certainly wasn't an issue I had to tackle when he was a newborn. But he's also got this adorable cackling laugh that comes out when we chase him around the house. It may not be easier, but it is certainly more fun. I really appreciate you joining me throughout this first year. This dream is one of my babies, and it has been such fun to start the journey of raising it. I hope you'll join me for the next year as we learn more, face new challenges, and grow together until we see our dreams come true.