“This part of our lives is infinitesimal. I wish we were able to enjoy it more as we experience it.” Some of the best hindsight-based wisdom I have received came from a grandmother in the community center locker room.

As I changed my 1-year-old after his Mommy-and-Me swim class, we chatted. She was friendly and wise, happy to share her insights –and, I, glad to receive them — as a mother of twin now-men who had moved across the country when her boys were but a year old. “I never knew how to dress my boys for this Mid-Atlantic weather,” she said. “I was a California girl. I had no idea what I was doing. They were always dressed too warm or too cool,” she laughed at herself, “but, they grew up just fine. We put so much pressure on ourselves for those things.”

And so, as I nursed my 1-year-old at 3am this morning, the grandmother’s wisdom echoed in my sleep-hazed mind. Instead of lamenting the rest I was missing, I chose to savor the baby cuddles. All too soon I will be sleeping uninterrupted with empty arms.

“These are the good days”, I reminded myself. I kissed my baby’s soft hair and held him close in the dark of the too-early morning, remembering to enjoy this infinitesimal part of my life.