“We can do hard things”
is something I’ve been saying lately.
To help my kids understand,
but as a reminder for me too.

Sometimes the things that are worth the most in life
are hard,
and tedious.
They take time,
and patience.
They take extra planning,
and a lot of deep breaths.

Like family vacations,
or adventures with little ones.
Like teaching the value of chores,
and the daily hustle of life.

Things—even seemingly simple things—
can become harder with small children.
But that doesn’t mean those things are not worth doing.
Because they are.

They’re worth the smiles,
even if there is whining before and after.
They’re worth watching your kid put their dish and cup in the dishwasher,
even if you had to ask them to do it five times.
They’re worth the memories,
even if there were a lot of sweat and tears involved in planning for them.

We can do hard things.
Because we’re strong,
Because we’re patient,
Because we know the end goal:
raise kind humans who know what love feels like.