Those trips to the doctor. That hellish commute across town to the special school. The elite soccer team that dominates your schedule. The kid who wakes up six times a night. The one who can’t put clothes on by themselves. The one who needs extra help on their homework.

We all have issues, we’ve said recently. Every kid, every family, struggles with something. Every kid, every day, there is some new demand on us as a parent. It’s enough to make us ask, “Why me?” “Why does it have to be this way?” “Why can’t it just be easy?”

To which the answer is because. That’s just how it worked out. As we’ve said, the better question is: What is this experience giving you? To which the answer is: More of them. This ordeal, this struggle, this everyday obligation, even some terribly painful experience, it’s giving you more time with them. It’s giving you an opening to connect with them. It’s giving you a chance to understand them.

If you choose to take it, that is. If you choose to see it as an opportunity and not a burden. If you see it as a gift and not some cruel stroke of fate. Because it is a gift. Because one day, the doctor’s visits will stop. The school commute will end. The sleepless nights will fade into memory. And what you’ll be left with is the time you spent together—the moments you showed up, the moments you leaned in, the moments you chose connection and care over fear and frustration.

This season of life, as exhausting and relentless as it feels, is also fleeting. And when it’s gone, you may just find yourself wishing for one more late-night wake-up, one more car ride, one more chance to hold them close and help them through. So take it now and see it for what it is.

A challenge, yes.

But also a gift.