Today is our 15th wedding anniversary.

We celebrated yesterday by going on this beautiful 6-mile hike and this was the reward at the end. My husband brought a hammock, and had packed us a super yummy lunch, and we sat side by side in this hammock looking at this view.

I was hot, sweaty, and tired when we got to the top of this steep climb. As we sat and enjoyed the view, he said something to me that I've been thinking about ever since.

He said, "You know, when we get time alone without the kids, I always am reminded of how much I really just like being with you."

I joked, asking him if this was a compliment or an insult, but the truth is, it was exactly what I needed to hear.

Motherhood makes me grumpy sometimes. OK, a lot of the time. It's stressful and I give and give and give until at the end of the day I don't have a lot left for him. Traveling is stressful with the kids, eating out is stressful, pretty much anything we do feels stressful to me. I struggle with anxiety, and motherhood sometimes doesn't bring out my best.

I know that sometimes we aren't the best versions of ourselves when we're parenting. It's easy to get lost in the hard stuff. The challenges of raising little humans is not for the faint of heart. There is sleep deprivation, and hard work, tough lessons and discipline, and not a lot of time to spare because you can't hear yourself think when they're around.

You collapse into bed at the end of the night barely able to utter an I love you to each other. And, suddenly, you wake up and realize it's been 15 years of marriage. 11 of which have been monopolized by child-rearing.

I know he loves me. But, I NEEDED to hear that he still LIKES me. I still like him too. A lot.

Pick someone that you really LIKE to spend forever with.

Because, when things get hard, and you know you love each other, it's just as important to remember that you like each other, too.

This post originally appeared on Meredith's facebook page.

Meredith Ethington is the founder and creator of Perfection Pending, and has been blogging for over 10 years. She is a mom to three, and is desperately trying to help her kids understand sarcasm, and her need for personal space. She recently turned Perfection Pending into a contributor site to share the voices of all the fellow moms she admires. She is a freelance writer and has her first book coming out soon, Mom Life: Perfection Pending. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where she loves to laugh at herself and admit that while parenting is the best thing ever, it’s also the hardest job on earth.

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