From Messy to Joyful

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Life can be messy.

Just this morning I had a conversation with another mom about those long days and sleepless nights of diapering. Apparently the average baby goes through over three hundred diapers in one month of life, and I added that I’m sure my son went through far more than that. Forcing us back to the diaper changing station seemed to be his sole purpose in life. Now that fussy little baby is a nine year old who not only makes fewer messes, but is actually incredibly helpful around the house, cleaning up quite a few messes that he’s not even made. We survived perhaps the messiest stages of childhood and are reveling in the joy of coming out on the other side.

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And while parenting certainly has its share of literal messes, there are also the emotional messes of life that can be just as overwhelming. As much as I thought parenting a baby was challenging, I’ve now got an eleven year old daughter who is making the transition from childhood to adulthood, elementary to middle school, approaching those teen years at the speed of light. There are absolutely days where all we do is laugh and enjoy one another, but there are also days where we’re both in tears, unsure of why.

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Even as we journey through this messy, tough time together, I know that the payoff will be joy. My daughter and I are becoming incredibly close as we talk through each challenge she faces, and I am confident that the hard work we do together to clean up the emotional messes of life will just solidify that bond.

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Meet Joy and the other feelings in theaters now in Disney*Pixar’s Inside Out, then don’t miss your chance to win a trip to San Francisco!

This post is part of a sponsored campaign. I have received compensation. All opinions are my own. 

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