It's the little things

Sometimes the little things matter. Sometimes you don’t realize how much a little something will bother you until it does.

I could hear my boy quietly crying in the car on the way home from the train station. He was heartbroken that he had lost a little squishy toy that he insisted on bringing with him to NYC.

Our trip to NYC was not as successful as I had hoped. It was full of disappointments. The Mystery Ride wasn’t as fun as he hoped; the mac-n-cheese he ordered was kinda gross; the Public Library didn’t have huge stacks of books to look at like we thought. And my son losing a toy that was apparently one of his favorites was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Upon our arrival to NYC on the train platform walking into Grand Central Station, I said loudly into his ear over the hum of the engine, “are you going to be upset if you lose those toys you brought with you? If so, put them in Dad’s backpack.” He likes to have something to fidget with, so he put one of them into the backpack because it belonged to his brother. The other he kept in his pocket or his hand for the duration of the day.

This little toy (that, for the record, I had no idea he cared so deeply for) fell out of his jacket pocket and onto the filthy Manhattan streets while we were walking no fewer than three times. One time would have been more times than I would be comfortable with, but each time he picked it up and put it in his pocket again, oblivious to the fact that he narrowly avoided losing this thing… thrice.

Fast forward to our arrival at the train station in Connecticut and walking to the car to go home when my youngest anxiously announced that he didn’t have his squishy toy. He assured us that he had it getting off the train so it had to be here at the station.

Night was falling; the light was fading. We were hungry and tired and grouchy from being in the city where there are far more people per sqaure foot than anyone in my family is built for in large doses. If this toy didn’t appear quickly, it would not be searched for in earnest. We had already witnessed it jumping out of his pocket on more than one occasion, it could be anywhere. Especially under the leaves and trash where he insisted on walking instead of the sidewalk.

Shockingly, we didn’t find this elusive toy. He was devastated. This is why we heard him crying quietly in the backseat. He had already been disappointed with most of the day, and now he lost his toy that he inexplicably loved with great passion now that it was gone.

We all know how he feels. That very morning, I had a hard time letting go of the fact that I paid for parking 4 seconds before we learned that we didn’t have to pay on the weekend. It was only $6, but it pissed me off. It could have been prevented if we had done things differently.

Sometimes the little things matter.

In the future, my boy will not be so quick to choose to bring along a toy that he might lose and be upset about. I don’t think I will have to press him harder to understand that when I ask him a question like I did on the platform to ensure he was okay with losing something that I wasn’t kidding.

And just like I had to let go of the lousy six bucks for parking, he will have to let go of the poor lost toy that in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t really matter.

What are the small things that you need to let go? Is there a mistake you made that you are kicking yourself for and letting it sully your day, week, month or year? Or can you flip it and learn from it? Now you have a better understanding of what those things mean to you and you will make a different choice in the future.

As busy working moms, we're often juggling so many responsibilities that these "small things" can feel monumental when they go wrong. That parking fee or lost toy might represent deeper frustrations about time management, control, or feeling stretched too thin.

The next time something small threatens to derail your day, ask yourself: "What would happen if I chose to learn from this instead of dwelling on it?" This simple shift in perspective can create the breathing room you need to move from overwhelm to intention, both at home and at work. After all, work-life balance isn't about getting everything perfect—it's about knowing which little things truly matter and which ones you can lovingly let go.