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.

Give them this time. We want our children to do well. We want them to succeed. We want them to do all the things

that kids are supposed to do at their age. And we worry quite reasonably when it seems like

they're behind, behind their peers, not hitting commonly expected benchmarks. Lincoln's son,

Tad, was a slow learner and probably dyslexic. could not read until he was 12. He had a speech

impediment and was not easy to understand. Naturally, he didn't like school much and preferred

running around, playing pranks on his tutors. This must have been tough for Lincoln. He had been

a prodigy. His oldest, Robert, was clearly gifted enrolling at Harvard at age 16. Lincoln was president for most of

Tad's childhood. There must have been so much unsolicited advice from others, so much expectation,

even judgment. But the loving, patient parent in Lincoln dismissed all this. Let him run,

he said about Tad, there's time enough yet for him to learn his letters and get pokey.

Bob, his oldest, he said, was just such a little rascal, and now he's a very decent boy.

Indeed, Tad did learn to read, and he turned into a fine young man.

Lincoln had been absolutely right.

This isn't to say that we don't get our kids help, that we don't watch their progress,

but first we have to give them space.

Each child develops on their own timeline.

Each child has their own journey.

They don't need pressure from you.

They need love and patience.

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