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.

It's your fault there this way.

F. Scott Fitzgerald knew the long-term damage of being spoiled rotten.

Not only was he a prime and painful example of this himself, as we've written about, but as he observed

and studied the rich men and women of the jazz age, he saw how indulgent people quickly became

the careless monsters he portrayed in the Great Gatsby. In Fitzgerald's stories,

the rich are always expecting life to be easy, expecting their money to exempt them from consequences.

They're selfish, naive, insufferable, and superficial. As the subjects of his stories, this makes

them fascinating heroes and anti-heroes. But Fitzgerald also wanted us to know who the real

villains were, the parents and the families that raised them, as he depicts in one memorable exchange

in the offshore pirate, a story about a young, beautiful girl who refused to listen to her guardians.

You've grown unbearable, your disposition. You've made me that way. She says, no child ever had a bad

disposition unless it's her family's fault. Whatever I am, you did it. The truth applies to all of us,

not just fathers and families whose incomes put them in the 1%. We must blame ourselves or no one, remember. If your kid's not a hard worker, that's on us. If your kid's a bully or acts like they have an advanced degree from Dick's school, that's on us. If your kid has an attitude or gets into trouble, that's on us. They're kids. It's not our fault for not teaching them better. It's even less excusable if we throw our hands up and say, that's just the way they turned out.

No, whatever they are, we did it.

And it's not too late to make improvements.

You're listening to a Daily Dad podcast.

One meditation a day inspired to help you do your most important job, which is be a great

father. These are meditations inspired by ancient wisdom, psychological research, and just

great strategies from normal dads just like you. Thanks for listening.

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