Well, I'm a grandmother - I look after my beautiful one year old grandson two days a week while his mummy works and have him for overnight stays occasionally when he's not sleeping well, to give his parents a rest. Yes, it's exhausting having toddlers - I had four of my own - but I think what's changed is women's expectations of themselves.
In the 70s, when most of my children were born, life was physically harder; we had terry nappies to wash/boil and dry, pure wool matinee jackets to hand wash, no automatic washing machines, no tumble drier and cooking was done from scratch. We had enormous coachbuilt prams to push and few families had two cars (one salary = one car) so we walked everywhere. Since we lived on one salary, we bought few clothes - most kids wore hand-me-downs and most grannies in those days knitted (the bloody hand-washable wool matinee jackets...). Most of my contemporaries lived similar lives - we stayed at home to look after our children and we kept house, and both of those jobs required more actual labour than they do now.
However...we didn't feel we had to look well-groomed and immaculate at all times. Grooming meant a comb through the hair before we left the house, and possibly a quick shave of the legs (nothing else!) during the spring and summer months. We accepted a lower standard of living, I suppose, but because everyone else did too, it didn't seem hard. We'd visit each other's houses, the kids would play together (no nurseries, no playgroups) and holidays might mean a camping holiday in France, or in leaner times, a trip to the grandparents' home.
I don't think we worried so much about our relationships either - that's not to say they were perfect, and of course many of us put up with things we shouldn't have - but on the whole, when you had a family, the couple side of things was less important for a while. I guess our expectations were lower in every way.
In those days too, many women had their children young, and so they hadn't had time to become used to a high standard of living - it's much easier to do without luxuries when you've never had any. I think we accepted that our time for fun/freedom/travel/smart cars was in the future, after the kids had grown up.
I don't envy young parents today. I feel sad that they seem so busy, dashing around to provide stimulating experiences for their kids, while holding down full time jobs, worrying about mortgages, university fees, child care costs, and whether baby-led weaning is the way to go. Honestly, life was simpler back then. When you were a stay-at-home parent, you did household stuff most mornings and your children either played alongside you, or "helped". You hung the nappies out, they hung their dolls' clothes out (yes, my sons too). You baked, they rolled up pastry. You made soup, they helped chop up vegetables. It never occurred to me to think their environment wasn't rich enough, that I wasn't stimulating them enough, that I should be ferrying them around to after-school groups or organising "play dates"...kids just played. We talked to them, we sang with them, and we let them get on with things on their own. They all survived.
This isn't just crazy-old-lady nostalgia - I remember the exhaustion, the agony of breast-feeding through the pain of mastitis, the worry about childhood illnesses - but there is something precious about those days. Never again will your child be learning so fast, or needing your guidance so much. The time will come soon enough when they'll be off without a backward glance - as is natural and right.
So, if I pass you in the street, I'm looking at your (beautiful) children and remembering mine, and how quickly they grew. I'm hoping you're not too tired to enjoy yours, and I am wishing you knew how soon this stage will pass.