These are the good old days.

The laundry is piled high in the hamper and our shoe basket by the back door is overflowing with dirty socks and soccer cleats and flip flops.

Our calendar is packed with activities. My email is full of reminders and zoom links. The pantry is empty. And we need milk…again.

But these are the good old days.

At dinnertime, we clear the table of clumsy masterpieces or sweep back playdoh crumbs before sitting down to eat together. Then dinnertime is chaotic and crazy and loud. Eight out of ten times someone spills their milk.

But I soak in every minute.

Because these are the good old days.

Days filled with grocery store trips and basketball games. Sprinklers in the backyard and family hikes. School activities and tiny hugs. Sibling squabbles and quiet moments reading books before bed.

I know without a doubt I’ll miss these crazy, busy, messy, lovely, growing-up days.

I know…because sometimes a sweet little old lady stops filling her cart for a moment as we pass her at the store. She watches my children and smiles as her face flickers with nostalgia.

I remember one such lady reaching over to squeeze my daughter’s pudgy baby foot saying so softly, “Gosh, I miss this. Those really were the good old days.”

So, I lingered there a while. Smiling and listening to a few stories from when her children were young. Understanding so deeply how much this woman cherished that beautiful time…

The growing-up days.

I cherish it, too.

Right here in the thick of it.

These really ARE the good old days.