Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast, where we provide one lesson every single day to help you with your most important job, being a parent.

I'm Ryan Holiday, and I draw these lessons from ancient philosophy, modern psychology, practical wisdom, and insights from parents just like you all over the world.

Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

Don't be a ghost. You work hard. It keeps you busy. You are trying to provide for a family after all to keep them safe and secure, so they never have to want or go without. That's why you come home late after they're asleep. That's what has you rising early and heading to the airport before anyone has stirred. It's beautiful, it's inspiring,

it's your job. It's also sad, very sad, very easily the sign of something very broken.

The lyrics to the great song Runaways from the Killers captures it perfectly. At night, I come

home after they go to sleep, like a stumbling ghost I haunt these halls there's a picture of us on our

wedding day I recognize the girl but I can't settle in these walls as we've said before we tell

ourselves we're doing these things for our family but what does our family really want more

specifically what do our kids want?

They want us. They want us to be present, literally and figuratively. They want us to tuck them

into bed and be there when they wake. When you're in the thick of work, when you're focused on

building that nest egg and those college funds, that desire just to be present and to know us

and for us to know them, it can feel like it's asking too much. But really, they're asking very

little of you. It's just that it means everything to them. Hey, thanks for listening to the Daily Dad podcast.

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