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 Holliday, 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.

It is still hard for them.

The good thing is that our kids are smarter and more resilient than we think.

With time, they'll come to understand that, hey, we struggled with our issues too as parents,

as adults, the fact that we weren't always there or perfect.

Hopefully they'll realize and come to accept that it wasn't because we didn't love them. It was because we're human,

just like them. And humans have drinking problems. They work too much. They make mistakes. They do

things that disappoint other people, including their kids. Humans are why marriages don't always last,

why childhood isn't always idyllic. Indeed, we were raised by humans ourselves and what we learned,

what we went through, shaped what kind of parent we were able to be or not to be. Your kids will

understand this with time, especially if you can be vulnerable enough to talk to them about it.

Yet that doesn't mean it isn't still hard for them. I understand why you had to leave my father, the daughter of the writer Doris lesson once said to her mother, but that doesn't mean I don't resent it.

This is perfectly expressed.

Our kids know that your job is important.

Your kids know that your job is important.

They know that people are counting on you, but they still miss you. They know you are doing your best, but that doesn't change the fact that they have unmet needs. We have to understand that just because they understand doesn't change the fact that they are hurt, that they struggle, that they have feelings that they'll have to deal with. This is a tension that we as adults are going to have to figure out how to manage.

Yes, we can be kind and forgiving of ourselves, but that doesn't let us off the hook.

It doesn't mean that there aren't consequences. Your kids can love you and be mad at you at the

same time, and it will be this love that they feel that will allow them to forgive you unless you

take that for granted.

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