The morning rush before you get them ready for school. The time you spent waiting at a traffic light. When you were both hungry, so you stopped for fast food. When they messed up, but instead of getting mad you sat down as a family and talked. That weekend afternoon where you watched a movie on the couch. 

These seem like little moments. Inconsequential moments. The background noise of life. But that’s misleading. These are—if you decide to see them properly and soak them in—the big moments. This is the important time. “Enjoy the little things,” Robert Brault once said, “for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” 

Nowhere is that more true than in fatherhood. 

You look down at your phone for a moment and you can miss a big “first.” You get tied up at work for too long and a few months later, you realize the whole dynamic at home has changed. Suddenly they’re a teenager. Suddenly they have kids of their own. Your kids only need you for so long—they only like you for so long. Don’t take it for granted. Don’t let your mind or your attention drift. Don’t get too anxious (or ambitious) about the future at the expense of the present.

Just be here now. Be with them. Treat the little things as big things. Because in truth, that’s what they are.

P.S. This was originally sent on Oct 17 2019. Sign up today for the Daily Dad’s email and get our popular 11 page eBook, “20 Things Great Dads Do Everyday.”