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.

You'll get what you want, just not when you want it. You wish they'd be a bit more interested in things. You wish they'd want to

spend more time with you. You wish they would be sweet and affectionate. You wish they'd let you in.

You wish they'd ask for advice. Here's the thing. They will and they do. It's just not always when

you expect and certainly not when it's convenient. They're asking you questions,

but it's right before bed. They're asking to spend time with you, only it's in the form of

driving them across town. They do want to have fun. It just means jumping, as we've talked about,

in the freezing cold swimming pool, getting your hair wet, or getting your shoes muddy,

you're messing up your clothes. They are interested, but it comes off as

more of a challenge than it should, or it's more tentative than it should be. They do trust you. It just

comes off as misbehavior, as we've said, that's because they feel safe around you. They do love you.

They just whine a lot. So you miss it or worse, you turn it down. The thing you say you want,

the connection you crave, it's there. Just not always when you want it or how you want it.

You're going to need to be more open. You're going to need to be more flexible. You're not

always going to get what you want when you choose it, but you can always choose to take what you

can get because it's all there is. You know,