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.

What would it be like? It should be easy. Unlike so much of what parenting asks of us, this isn't adding anything to your plate.

In fact, it's the opposite.

But we struggle with it, don't we?

We struggle to be with our kids.

Not in terms of making the time, but making the effort to actually be present when we're with them.

We talked recently about the beautiful passage in Claire Keegan's book,

small things like these, which is actually a book club book for the painted porch a couple months

ago. Furlong, a father of five girls is at home making sweets with the family, sort of.

Actually, he's planning out the week ahead. He's solving work problems. His mind is elsewhere. His mind, like

hours so often is, is working even if he's at home. Always it was the same, he observes.

Always they carried mechanically on without pause to the next job at hand. What would life be,

he wonders, if they were given time to sink and reflect over things yeah what would

that be like might it be pretty incredible or at least a relief if you slowed things down if you made

some time and space for stillness if you were actually with your family when you were with your family

it would be like actually living it would be like actually living.

It would be like actually being a parent.

It would be like actually being a family.

That's what it would be like.

And that's what you want it to be like, isn't it?

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