I left the boys with Justin the other night and was at the grocery store alone – a rare gift these days! I saw a young dad pushing a shopping cart.
In the cart was a car seat with a light blanket over top – it was clear that the baby inside must have been sleeping, and there was a toddler sitting in the upper seat by the handle. The dad looked tired. It was pretty late in the day to have little kids at the store.
At the checkout, I heard the baby in the car seat start to cry from a few aisles over. It was a new baby cry. I wanted so badly to go over to him and try to help but I didn’t want him to feel like he wasn’t capable to do it himself. And then I thought about just smiling and saying something like, “it will get better!” but I didn’t want to imply that it didn’t seem fine at that very moment! Babies cry sometimes, and that doesn’t mean you are in the trenches necessarily. But what if he was" What if his wife had just handed the kids over upon his return from work and said, “please take them somewhere I need to be alone.”
I thought about him during the drive home and wished I had said something encouraging. “I’ve been there!” or some sort of camaraderie type phrase, even if it wouldn’t have been necessary. Because these are long days. They can push you to your limit, and sometimes beyond, but they are the best days of my life. Of that I am very sure.

David is two, and Luk...