Today we wanted to run our favorite entry from The Daily Dad: 366 Meditations on Parenting, Love, and Raising Great Kids, a helpful reminder on this day of celebration.

When you were younger, for Christmas, all you wanted was presents.

Now that you’re older, now that you have kids, all you want is presence. All you want is for your kids to be present over the holidays.

Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinkos, is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. When asked about his wealth, Orfalea didn’t talk about buying expensive stuff or building a great company or taking exotic vacations. He said,

Do you know what success is? Success is when your children want to be with you when they’re adults. How many people have all that bullshit, and their kids don’t come home for the holidays? Come on.

Success, as we’ve talked about before, is having a crowded table. At the end of your life, success as a parent will be a family that comes together, that spends time together, that wants to be around you.

So here on Christmas, and throughout this holiday season, take some time to think about what it will take to have that. Think about the choices you’re making with your kids now so that they’ll choose to fly from their homes to yours when they’re older and have families of their own. Think about the gifts you have to give them today—your love, your support, your presence—to receive the gift of a crowded table in the future.

If you know someone who needs to be a little more present this year, maybe nudge them with a copy of The Daily Dad…or Stillness is the Key.