Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast where we provide one lesson every day to help you

with your most important job being a dad. These are lessons inspired by ancient philosophy,

by practical wisdom, and insights from dads all over the world.

Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

Don't let them do more damage.

That idiot at work, that jerk of a neighbor, that contractor who has repeatedly lied and

misled you, these are the realities of life, of course, but as a parent, they are also the extra

layer of crap you have to deal with on top of bedtimes and colds and getting the kids off

to school and making sure that they're

fed. The question we have to answer for ourselves in these moments is, can we keep the frustrations

of the former from affecting our attention to the latter? Especially when the latter becomes the

former. Like when you're fresh off often obnoxious email from someone who

needs to be fired. You had to pick up more trash that blew over from your neighbor's yard. The bills

from the house project are piling up and up, and now your kid isn't listening. Now they're running

around like a crazy person yelling. Your teenager won't pick up after themselves or

stop hoarding dirty dishes under the bed. You have to be able to compartmentalize these frustrations

regardless of their source. It's not your kid's fault that work sucks. They have no ability to

understand that you have it hard. They have no idea that this outburst is just an

outburst. It has nothing to do with them, nothing to do with your feelings about them. It's not fair to let the

idiot at work do damage at home too. You have to leave them and their nonsense at the office.

And that is why we've talked about the danger of multitasking.

It brings the outside world into your home. It makes it hard to switch between the loving,

...