All good things come to an end. The same goes for some things you might not think of as good. Your kids waking up in the middle of the night. The fights between siblings. The call from the police station about your teenager. The financial dependence.

None of it lasts forever. Someday they won’t want you to help them get dressed. Someday they won’t call you when they have a problem. Someday they won’t need you to show them how to do everything–fix a toilet, negotiate with a car salesman, shop for appliances, even counsel their own children. And you know what you’ll feel then? You will feel terribly, terribly sad.

But instead of trying–foolishly and impossibly–to go back in time or to keep them from growing up so you can still feel useful, why don’t you just appreciate it right now? Even if you hate doing it, someday you will miss it. So fast forward and give yourself that gift right now. See this thing, whatever it is–a diaper or your college student dropping another class–as a gift. Because it is.

See it that way now. Appreciate it now.