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.

They're listening. They really are.

It was a cold morning in Iowa City and Jack Harbaugh was dropping

off his kids at school. It was freezing. One of those days when the snot freezes in your nose,

you're bundled up, you're miserable, your kids are sluggish, they'd rather be at home in bed

or in front of the television. But that's not life. So as he got them out of the car,

he knelt down and looked them in the eye and said, come on, gentlemen, let's attack this day

with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. And don't take any wooden nickels. What did that even

mean? Who knew exactly? Did it matter? The kids probably weren't listening anyway.

Like so many dads, Harbaugh kept repeating this ridiculous line because who knows why? That's just what dads do.

And not once in the 500 times he said it over the course of their childhood. Did it get a reaction? Not once.

But he kept at it because he thought maybe it would get through.

Flash forward half a lifetime. His younger son, Jim Harbaugh, is named the head coach at Stanford.

Jack is watching the press conference. His son steps up to the microphone and says,

We're going to attack this day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. Don't take any

wooden nickels. It had been 36 years. My God, Jack said to himself, they were listening.

Hey, thanks for listening to the Daily Dad podcast. You can get this via email every day as well at

DailyDad.com. Please leave us a review in iTunes. Most importantly, if you know any dads or parents

who would benefit from these messages, please spread the word. Thanks.

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