Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
—Dr. Seuss
They’re going to ask you only so many times: to get in the pool with them, to sit next to them, to help with their homework, to talk about the problem they’re having.
Not because you only get a certain number of summers and car rides and moments with your kids—though that is true. They’re going to ask you only so many times because at some point they’re going to get the message.
Dad is too busy; he isn’t any fun anymore. Mom judges; she isn’t actually a good person to ask.
That message.
So you can’t defer the opportunity to answer till later. You can’t afford to lose your temper because this is the nth time they’ve asked. You can’t give anything less than your best, your most present, your most fun self. Because this ask—in this moment—is it.
It’s your chance. You can’t waste it. You can’t send them the wrong message. You have to seize it. You have to show them who you are.