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.

Where did you see that?

Your daughter gets mad so she slams the door and screams.

Your son makes himself a snack and leaves the kitchen a disaster for someone else to clean up.

You hear them say something rude to a waiter.

You see them write something offensive online.

Before you get mad, before you condemn them, just take them aside.

Ask them kindly, openly, a question that the strong

man and bodybuilder Mark Bell says he likes to ask his teenage kids. Hey, when have you seen me do that?

This is a critical question for two reasons. One, it may well be that you have been inadvertently

modeling behavior you find repugnant.

As we've said before, a little fellow follows us, and the best way to teach is by example.

We want to know if we've been tacitly condoning the wrong things to our kids.

But second, one of the best and strongest ways to indict bad behavior is with a gentle correction

rather than with harsh words.

Seneca would talk about how role models help make crooked straight. Being able to say to your kids

respectfully, I am older, richer, and freer than you, and I would never accept that kind of

behavior in myself. And this can ring louder than any punishment. We are all walking this road of life together,

all doing what we think is okay. Sometimes we don't know. Sometimes we make the wrong assumptions.

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