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.

They've always been like that. Kids these days, you pay for everything for them. You go out of your way to do stuff

they think you'll enjoy. You build your whole life around them. And do they notice? Do they appreciate

it? Nope. They take it for granted. And they have the audacity to tell you how you're letting

them down. They keep a perfect score of what you didn't do, of how you're ruining their life,

and they're not afraid to try to boss you around. It can drive you crazy. Just look at this letter

a kid wrote to his father, A nice thing to do, he writes, dripping in pubescent scorn,

not taking you with me to the city. If you refuse to take me with you to

Alexandria, I shall not write you a letter or speak to you or wish you good health. So if you go to

Alexandria, I shall not take your hand or greet you ever again. If you refuse to take me,

this is what happens. If you don't send for me, I shan't eat,

I shan't drink. There. Now, you can probably tell from a couple of words that this wasn't exactly

written last week, but it so feels pretty modern, right? But would you believe that this letter

was written by an Egyptian boy 18 centuries ago?

We'd like to think that kids these days are particularly spoiled or empowered, but the truth is,

it's always been this way. Your experience as a parent is not that unique. Your teenager might

be out of line with how they're talking to you, but you know what? They're pretty in line with their peer group for all time. This is how it goes. This is what they do. They think they're the center of the universe. They think you were born to serve them. And you know what? They were right because that's part of the deal when you bring a kid into the world. You sign up for the chaos, the entitlement, the rebellion,

but you also get to shape them, guide them, and watch them

until they eventually realize, perhaps far later than you'd like,

just how much you've done.

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