After another great game of my daughter’s, I posted my celebration and excitement of her online. I thought, “Geez, people are probably so tired of my bragging posts about how her current season is going.”

Isn’t that the way we see it when a parent posts about how great their kid played, how they saved the goal, made the winning shot, threw the game-ending pass, knocked in the go-ahead run, pitched a shut out? They’re bragging or they’re boasting, right?

But as I scroll through my social media feed, I see I’m not the only one celebrating my kid’s recent success on the field or in the classroom or at life. As I hit the like and love button as I scrolled through, it was my teacher heart that burst with joy for these kids and their parents celebrating.

For anyone who’s lived behind the scenes of that moment, we know it’s not bragging or boasting, it’s celebrating. That moment we’re highlighting on social media is about so much more than that one moment we’re capturing in time.  

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Parents, who finally get to make that brag post (even if it’s a few in a row) because our child is having such a great season, need you to know this: we sat through all the moments that weren’t so great.

We sat there when our kid didn’t get to play much. We saw our kid question if they were good enough and should even give this game more of their time. We saw their heartbreak when they thought their mistake cost their team the game. We saw the missed shots, the strikeouts, the team cuts, the dropped pass . . . you name the mistake, we’ve probably seen them make it all. We patted their shoulder and gave them a hug. We were the ones there for all the moments that weren’t going to make any team highlight.

But they stuck with the game; they kept showing up. For any parent who was an athlete before their kid, we know the heartache that comes with being an athlete, and we know the grit it takes to keep being one when the game feels like it’s never going your way.

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So that brag post a parent made online was about so much more than his or her kid’s great play . . . it was celebrating that her kid didn’t quit. It was celebrating that he or she has heart. It was a celebration that they kept practicing, and they kept showing up—for themselves and for their team—never knowing one day if they’d be the one with the saving goal, winning shot, big hit, or completed pass, but dang if they weren’t going to show up every day and give it their best shot. Whether that moment ever came or not, we were going to be there for them.

Behind that moment of celebration were the failures, the mistakes, and all the moments of falling short. So yes, parents, celebrate that long-awaited moment that only you know how truly long and hard they worked for. You know the depth of their journey, and you will always be their number one fan to celebrate them.