We understand that one day we’ll miss this. When they move out, when they get older, when we’re older…if something were to happen, we’d miss this. We’d miss the noise. We’d miss the opportunity to do things for them. We’d miss the quality time and the garbage time alike.

But it’s not just someday in the future that you’ll miss it—you know that, right?

You’re going to miss this tomorrow. When you and your spouse are on your date night, how quickly will the conversation turn to the kids? How soon before one of you says, “How do you think they’re doing? I miss them so much”? When you’re on the plane next week for a business trip, you’ll be thinking, “I wish I was home. I wish I was driving them to school instead of flying to this stupid meeting.” After you finally get them in bed—after the 14th book, after the argument, after the lecture about curfew—you know what you’ll think? You’ll think “It’s so quiet in this house. I wouldn’t mind if one of them woke up and needed me.”

The point is, this moment you have right now, even if it’s stressful, even if it’s exhausting, even if it’s ordinary and humdrum…it won’t feel that way almost immediately after it passes. So why are you rushing through it? Why are you acting like it’s a burden?

You have what you wish for right now. You have what you’re going to miss later. Act like it.