Some of the most meaningful parenting wins are often the easiest to overlook. In this reflection, Family Support Specialist Christina Kunz shares why it’s worth pausing to notice and celebrate these small moments of progress, especially for families navigating adoption, kinship, and permanency.
Over the past few months, many of you have shared insights in our Facebook support groups that have brought a smile to my face week after week: Your Parent Wins of the Week. Every Friday since early May, we’ve invited families to pause and celebrate something that went well for them that week. It’s been a beautiful reminder that parenting wins come in many different forms.
Some wins were big milestones—graduations, new jobs, increased independence, successful school years, or a child trying something they once found too difficult. Others were quieter victories- a child asking for help instead of having a meltdown, a smoother transition, a successful outing, an apology after a difficult moment, a hug, or simply making it through a challenging day together. For families navigating adoption, kinship, and permanency, those quieter moments can represent enormous progress.
Sometimes progress isn’t that the difficult behaviour has disappeared. It can look like a child who recovers more quickly. Asks for help. Tries again. Repairs after a difficult moment. It can be a teenager who takes one small step toward independence. A parent who recognizes that something isn’t working and adjusts their expectations or approach. The hard moment may still happen, but so does the connection afterward. That is progress, too.
One of the things I value most about my role as Family Support Specialist over the past 3 years is having the privilege of supporting families over time. I sometimes meet parents during seasons that feel incredibly difficult. They may be wondering whether the strategies they’re trying are making a difference, or whether the progress they hope for will ever come.
Then, months, or even years later, I hear about a child reaching a milestone, a teenager becoming more independent, a relationship growing stronger, or a young person handling a challenge in a way they couldn’t have managed before. Getting to witness that growth is incredibly special.
Behind those celebratory moments of growth are often years of work that aren’t visible in the final “win”- the patience, dedication, difficult conversations. The advocacy, appointments, adjustments. The hard nights, the setbacks, the repairs, and the countless times a parent simply chose to keep showing up.
I think that’s why celebrating our wins matters.
As parents, we can become so focused on what still needs to be worked on that we forget to notice what has already changed. Our brains naturally look for the next problem to solve. There can be so much benefit to taking a moment to pause and recognize that the things that feel ordinary today may have once felt impossible.
A hug can represent trust.
Asking for help can represent safety.
An apology can represent growing emotional awareness.
A successful transition can represent months of learning and preparation.
A little more independence can represent years of building confidence.
When we share those moments with one another, something even more powerful happens. We remind other parents that they aren’t alone. Someone reading your Parent Win might see a little piece of their own journey—or find hope for what is still to come.
So, as we move into a new season, I encourage you to keep looking for those moments.
What is one parenting win you’ve experienced recently?
It doesn’t have to be big. It doesn’t have to be impressive. It just has to be meaningful to you and your family.
Pause long enough to notice it.
Give yourself permission to celebrate it.
The little wins really do add up.
