There are always a million reasons not to. You’re busy. It’s expensive. You’re about to have a breakthrough. It’s stressful. Your boss might get upset.

These were all the reasons that Alexander Hamilton stayed in Manhattan in the summer of 1791, while his wife took their kids to visit her parents upstate. He was busy. There was big legislation in play. Maybe the last thing he wanted to do was be stuck with his in-laws. So he stayed and in a low moment—as you probably remember if you’ve seen the play—had the affair that blew up his life.

In his last seconds on this planet, as Hamilton fiddled with the pistol before the duel that killed him, he must have rued so many decisions that had brought him that place, beginning with the choice to skip what might have been a nice time with family. It would have been the same crushing, but fleeting realization we spoke of with Pierre Curie, who rushed back early from a trip with his family, only to be crushed by a wagon on a French street.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Why can’t we take the break? Why can’t we take the hand that’s being offered? Why do we make up these reasons? Even if the work we do is important, it’s not nearly as important as we make it seem in any individual moment. Even if vacations and time with family can be difficult, even stressful in their own way, in the end, we will regret passing up the opportunity. We will wish we spent more time together. We will kick ourselves for prioritizing the wrong thing.

P.S. On a recent episode of the Daily Dad Podcast, Ryan shares more surprising parenting insights hidden in the hit musical Hamilton and reflects on what it means to show up where it really counts—at home.

Listen to the episode here and subscribe to the podcast today for more tips on how to prioritize our most important job as parents—our family.