15 Mommy Moments to Be Proud Of

Childcare is relentless, and no one tells you when you're doing a good job. Here's my typical day and all the things I did that deserve at least a sticker. What about you?

Today, I...

• Managed to find a G-rated word to shout after dropping a bottle of apple juice on my bare foot.
• Snagged front-row seats for the hottest show in town: the sold-out Wiggles concert!
• Extracted my toddler from the mall carousel without bribery, muscle power, or the kind of negotiation skills you might see on Deal or No Deal.
• Used the stop-and-go traffic I was stuck in as an opportunity to retrieve various toys, pacifiers, balled-up socks, and bottles as they rolled under my feet.
• Plucked both of my eyebrows -- on the same day, no less.
• Transferred a sleeping child from the car to the crib without stepping on any squeaky toys, banging my knee on the car seat, or startling the dog (thus obliterating naptime).
• Resisted the urge to wet my thumb and wipe the mustard off my boss's otherwise white beard at lunch today.
• Forced a smile when my mother-in-law let the baby fall asleep in her arms, effectively undermining the three weeks of sleep training I'd just endured.
• Didn't eat the Girl Scout cookies. Well, not all of them. Just the Thin Mints.
• Got the "choo-choo" to ride into the "station" over and over again, until all the broccoli was gone.
• Saved my son's beloved blankie from falling into the large, murky puddle in the Wal-Mart parking lot.
• Found bathing suits in size 2T at the store even though the fall fashions are already on display.
• Praised my husband for making the bed (the very same bed I've made every single day with no audible acknowledgment or, heck, even a thumbs-up for seven years).
• Got a hero's welcome, and all I'd done was step outside to get the mail.
• Found, in the car: a safety pin, Superman underpants, three Band-Aids, Barbie's shoes, a Starbucks napkin that had doubled as a tissue, change for the kiddie rides, and the school nurse's phone number. The playgroup calls me "MacGyver."

Excerpted from You're a Good Mom by Jen Singer (2008). Reprinted by permission of Sourcebooks, Inc.

Copyright © 2008. Used with permission from the May 2008 issue of American Baby magazine.