On Monday morning, I walked Eli to school while pushing Henry in his stroller, like I do every day. It's about a 10-minute walk (15 if we dawdle) and I love it. It's a great time to chat to Eli one-on-one, since we don't spend a ton of time sitting around catching up when we're home together - he's busy playing, I'm taking care of Henry or making dinner or cleaning up. Our walks to and from school are two of my favourite parts of the day.  

We always see a bunch of neighbours and usually a few dogs on our walks. On this particular Monday, we passed an older lady walking a small dog. She asked Eli about school while he patted the dog, she checked out a wide-eyed gawking Henry in his stroller, and she pointed out how much the boys look alike. Then she said to me, "This is the best time of your life. I wish I could have it back."

It's so easy to forget, isn't it? When it's hot and your baby won't stop screaming and your kid is harassing you to watch YouTube videos of some child unpacking a giant Tupperware container of small plastic animals (yes, this is a thing). When you have nothing in the house to eat that sounds appetizing, but a trip to the grocery store sounds worse, so you make a meal out of sliced apples and crackers and peanut butter. When you just want to read a magazine in peace for 15 minutes without being asked "what's this word? What does this say? What's that called? Can I have a drink?" incessantly.

But then your baby gives you a warm, crinkly-eyed, drooly smile, or your kid runs to you after school with his arms outstretched for a bear hug, or your husband pours you an extra large glass of red wine after the boys are tucked into bed, when you finally get to curl up on the couch with that magazine. Then you remember, yes, this is the best time of your life. Or when a kind neighbour stops to chat with you during just another Monday walk to school. So thank you, neighbour lady, for the reminder.