She confidently walked into the Wal-Mart bathroom stall and the door banged shut.

That’s when I realized. 

Realized what? Where am I going with this?

No, it wasn’t the lady who stole the fifty dollar bill out of my hands. (That’s another story for another day.)

It was my daughter. And I realized today in the Wal-Mart bathroom that she’s no longer afraid of using public restrooms and I don’t have to help her anymore. (Sorry. No major news story or earth-shattering revelation here. 😉

I have distinct memories of a four or perhaps five-year-old girl having to be coaxed and cajoled into using public restrooms. She was so terrified of the toilets flushing while she sat on them.

Her anxieties made many public bathroom visits a hassle and it was one of those things that we battled with for months and years.

Turns out it was also one of those things that she slowly outgrew. Once she began going to school we seldom had opportunities to go shopping together, her and I. And somewhere along the way, without me noticing, she stopped fearing public restrooms.

And now that she’s just finished grade one, it’s apparent how much she’s matured. She’s grown up so much over the past few months.

It’s a reminder to me and to us all: one day, soon, we won’t be fighting those same old battles. One day soon we’ll have a Wal-Mart moment and it’ll hit us that we haven’t fought that battle for a long time.

We’ll look and there will be a big, grown-up version of that small fellow soldier of ours.

So, moms, we best enjoy our little ones now. One day today’s battles will be gone. And so will that little version of our children. We’ll be onto bigger battles with bigger children. 

For today, soldier on, knowing the battle’s end may well be just around the corner. Lean into the struggles and hold onto those little strugglers. And someday, not so long from now, it’ll all be worth it.