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.

Look for these moments.

In the 2008 American presidential campaign, Barack Obama famously used the

Reverend Wright scandal as what he later called a teachable moment, a chance to discuss race

with the American people. Whatever you think of Obama's politics or of that scandal,

it's hard not to like that phrase, a teachable moment. It's rare in politics that anyone

learns anything from the events of which they are apart, let alone stops to teach those around

them. But it is an essential act of fatherhood because everything that happens is an opportunity,

a chance to teach your children. The question is, will we seize that

chance? Will you take advantage of that opportunity? Are you paying close enough attention on a regular

basis to notice that these opportunities arise? Remember, the political scandal looked all bad for

Obama. People were mad. His opponents made claims

about things that had been said by right and Obama that simply weren't true. And opponents

smelled blood in the water. But Obama was calm enough, principled enough, clever enough to see

that he could use this to his advantage. He could flip all that attention into an opportunity

to give a speech that people would have to pay attention to.

He could use this as a chance to talk about things that were important to him, things ironically, that were at the heart of why the Reverend Wright thing was a scandal to begin with.

It was a brilliant act of political judo using the weight and the anger of his opponents against them and now you today

with your kids have to apply that same mentality that knock on the door at 2 a.m. bringing your son home

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